Health Analysis of Rape

This may be a bit repetitive because it deals with a lot of what happened in the last several posts. The health people work with the authorities using the samples given by the victim and the police investigators. The rape kit( see two blogs ago) is probably their biggest tool in investigating instances of rape and sexual violence. For them, it is all about maintaining and preserving material evidence from the scene of the crime as well as the victim so that the evidence can be passed along to the detectives on the case. Medical personnel are only there to collect evidence and analyze it, and then the police work with them to identify the rapist through DNA analysis and continue the investigation through prosecution and trials. Records of DNA are kept and are available both to police and medical workers.

Police Investigation

Police are the first people to begin a rape investigation. And it all starts with the specific officer who has been called to check on the incident. Remember-the victim's name does not appear on the police report or complaint. Secrecy is the real key here. Because the police's aim is to try and make things comfortable for the victim, they will be the only people the victim will talk to. The officer will then work with a detective or investigative officer to try and gather the evidence and make an effort to get as many details as possible about the incident from the victim while talking about the incident as few times as possible. They want to improve the victim's level of comfort while still trying to get cooperation out of them so the investigation can continue. These are the goals that are looked toward in this kind of an investigation:
1. Enhance collection and continuity of evidence
2. Identification of assaulter, bystanders,
3. Preservation of crime scene

Later, if more intricate evidence, like DNA, semen samples, blood, urine, that kind of thing is needed, usually the CSI or CIS( in this particular article Criminal Investigation Section), they are contacted to do their work if necessary. If that is the case, then they take over the investigation. But that does not mean the police back away. The same officer from the beginning is in charge of comforting the victim, and taking them to tests to make sure everything goes smoothly. These scientists doing the tests are sometimes not the best people to talk with, so the officer is there for emotional support because he has been there since the beginning. A Rape Kit is used to gather the evidence( see previous post), and with the amount and quality of evidence that is gathered from them, the assailant can hopefully be brought in and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Source:
http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/police/downloads/police_pdf13191.pdf