Law enforcement is responsible for clearing cases using definitions provided by the FBI. Case unfounding is a clearance method that includes, but is not limited to, cases that are determined to be false reports. Unfortunately, in many sexual assault cases, unfounding may also be used improperly to clear cases that are believed or assumed to be false, rather than factually proven to be false. Over the course of 18 months, the Oregon Sexual Assault Task Force (ORSATF) trained approximately 600 Oregon police officers in 4 Oregon departments about the proper case closure methods for sexual assault reports. Concurrently, the ORSATF conducted a series of audits of sexual assault reports that had been cleared as “unfounded” by those 4 departments. Results from the data indicated strongly that a relatively basic training had a tremendous impact on the rates of incorrectly coding sexual assault cases as “unfounded.”
Battered Women’s Justice Project
- Toll-Free:
- (800) 903-0111 x 1 (TTY Callers: Use 711)
- Main Line:
- (612) 824-8768
National Center on Protection Orders and Full Faith & Credit
- Toll-Free:
- (800) 903-0111 x 2
- Main Line:
- (703) 312-7922
National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women
- Toll-Free:
- (800) 903-0111 x 3
- Main Line:
- (215) 351-0010
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Decreasing the Number of Incorrectly “Unfounded” Sexual Assault Reports
Resource Tags
Type
Webinar Recording
Categories
Sexual Violence, Sexual Violence, Criminal Justice System and Interagency Coordination (CCR)
Related Work
Topics
Gender-Based Violence, Coordination Models
