New sex-crime approach
NYPD to be more sensitive in probes, says unit’s new boss
The new head of the NYPD’s Special Victims Division vowed to bring a kinder, gentler atmosphere to his detective squads as a review of the embattled unit on Friday recommended more training for cops responding to rape calls.
“The last thing I want is for a survivor to say, ‘The worst thing I did is call the cops,’ ” Inspector Carlos Ortiz said Friday as he takes the reins of the troubled unit.
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell appointed Inspector Ortiz to the unit on Wednesday. He was selected after he and two other candidates held a zoom interview with both NYPD administrators and rape and sex assault victim advocates.
“He will not only instill an atmosphere of empathy among investigators but will use his experience to ensure investigators are conducting quality investigations and have manageable caseloads,” Sewell said.
Ortiz takes charge as the department begins to put human trafficking cases under the Special Victims umbrella. Trafficking cases were previously handled by the Vice Enforcement Division, a unit that focuses on prostitution and illegal gambling. Critics said the unit treated people who have been trafficked as criminals when they were actually victims forced into illegal activity, such as sex work, against their will.
While he’s still reviewing unit operations, Ortiz wants his detectives to begin treating sex assault victims as if they were members of their own family, he said.
“You should approach that survivor as if they were one of your family members and remember how would you want your family member to be treated in this situation,” Ramos said. “We know that not every case ends with an arrest or total finality, but we want that survivor to leave that situation and say, ‘You know what? The police did everything they could in regards to this.”
Ramos hopes that his five years as sergeant overseeing a domestic violence unit in the Bronx will help him be more empathetic to sexual assault victims in their time of need.
He’s in a post that has seen a lot of turnover in the last few years as Special Victims tries to improve its own troubled record. The unit has been under fire since a scathing 2018 report by the city
Department of Investigation criticized it as understaffed and lacking experienced detectives. Detectives in the unit were also found to be dismissive of date rape cases.
Ortiz will also have to adhere to a new NYPD-commissioned review of the unit that recommended the NYPD create an academy training program to teach cadets the best practices for responding to a rape call.
The review, done by the independent Research Triangle Institute, also recommended Special Victims detectives receive more “trauma-informed” and “victim-centered” training.
The department should also have an “agency-wide comprehensive sexual assault policy that provides all personnel with direction, roles and responsibilities, and expectations that establish a consistent and standardized response to sexual assault,” RTI noted.
The report said a lack of specialized training had resulted in officers, who are trained to secure a crime scene, sometimes treating victims as pieces of evidence. The report noted cops had a habit of photographing a victim soon after a sexual assault. The practice appeared to be tactics carried over from the NYPD’s transit unit.
“These pictures do not have any clear evidentiary or investigative purpose,” the report stated.
“While well-intentioned, this practice has a potential to be traumatic for victims.”
The NYPD is currently fighting a 12% jump in rape investigations this year, from 485 this time last year to 543 as of May 8.
Ortiz said he hasn’t reviewed the RTI report and appeared open to new training, as long as the basics he learned as a domestic violence sergeant are still followed.
“It’s about listening and not judging,” Ortiz said. “There is no judgement. It’s more about what happened and asking them, ‘How can we help you? What can we get you to help?
“I think if you keep that in mind, it goes along way,” he said.