RD421 - Report on Implementation of § 9.1-1301 Written Law Enforcement Policies on Response to Sexual Assault - November 2009


Executive Summary:
House Bill 1395 (2008; Bell) requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) to submit a report on the status of implementation of § 9.1-1301 to the Chairmen of the House and Senate Courts of Justice Committees by December 1, 2009. § 9.1-1301 requires all law enforcement agencies to establish written policies and procedures regarding law enforcement officers’ response to alleged sexual assaults. These written policies must, at a minimum, provide guidance on the following five broad statutory elements: sexual assault training, compliance with statutes related to the use of polygraph testing (§ 19.2-9.1) and forensic evidence collection (§ 19.2-165.1), transportation of victims, and provision of information on available legal and community resources.

DCJS designed and conducted a 20 item on-line survey of Virginia law enforcement agencies’ sexual assault policies during July and August of 2009.

A total of 106 law enforcement agencies responded to the on-line survey (30% response rate).

Key Findings:

76% (81) of the responding law enforcement agencies indicated that their departments had Code mandated written policies addressing sexual assault response.

These agencies indicated that the following broad statutory elements were included in their sexual assault response policies as detailed below.

Broad Statutory Element: Community and legal referrals
Percent of Agencies: 91%

Broad Statutory Element: Transportation
Percent of Agencies: 80%

Broad Statutory Element: Forensic evidence collection
Percent of Agencies: 75%

Broad Statutory Element: Training
Percent of Agencies: 67%

Broad Statutory Element: Use of polygraphs
Percent of Agencies: 38%

Among these agencies only 21% (17) indicated having policies which addressed all five required broad statutory elements.