NYPD is ripped on rape probes
THE NYPD HAS for years woefully undermined the investigation of sex crimes by understaffing its special victims division, the Department of Investigation charged Tuesday.
Investigators specifically criticized the department’s policy of downgrading the importance of “acquaintance” or date rape by not forwarding these cases to the special victims unit.
Instead, special victims is directed to handle only stranger rapes and high-profile cases, while date rapes are kept with local detective squads, the report found.
This practice contradicts NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill’s assertion in December that all reported rapes are “fully investigated by the seasoned professionals in special victims.”
“Victims of sexual assault deserve justice with the full weight of law enforcement by their side,” said Investigations Commissioner Mark Peters. “The neglect and understaffing of NYPD’s special victims division are serious and deeply troubling and the failure to treat acquaintance rape as an equal priority is unacceptable.”
The New York City branch of the National Organization for Women said the findings “are not a shock to anyone at 1 Police Plaza.”
“The bombshell report backs up what women’s rights advocates already know,” said NOW President Sonia Ossorio. “We have repeatedly taken these concerns to Police Commissioner O’Neill.”
On Tuesday O’Neill repeated his assertion that police “investigate each and every rape thoroughly” and defended staffing in the unit.
“Our special victims unit is recognized as the premier special victims unit in the country,” he said.
The report quotes multiple internal special victims unit memos, including an undated one that states, “SVD currently has very serious operational problems that place the department at substantial risk and those problems are staffing dependent.”
In a Nov. 24, 2014, memo, special victims commander Michael Osgood asserts that a higher-up told him “that we did not have to investigate every misdemeanor case.”
Osgood responded in the memo, “This was an unacceptable proposition for sex-crime complaints and one in which the undersigned ignored.”
The report makes clear the insufficient staffing of the special victims division is by no means a new problem.
Investigators say in 2010 an internal NYPD working group found that the unit was overworked and that staffing needed to be increased significantly.
Eight years ago that working group recommended hiring 26 more detectives, bringing staffing to 92. But staffing has actually stayed more or less the same since.
“NYPD has understaffed and under-resourced,” the special victims division,” the investigators found.
“Internal NYPD documents acknowledge that many sexual assault cases are not properly investigated” due to lack of staffing.