This week, we are sending this letter to Police Disciplinary Committees across the country. Feel free to forward this letter to your local police or sheriff's department.
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RE: Police Disciplinary Committees Need to Work to End ‘Victim-Centered’ Investigations
Dear [name]:
Over the past year, police departments have been subjected to unprecedented levels of scrutiny by lawmakers, the media, and citizens. One of the concerns revolves around the use of biased investigative methods known as “victim-centered.”[1]
The definition of “victim-centered” reveals its one-sided bias: Asking questions of a complainant “in a manner that is focused on the experience of the reported victim.”[2] Victim-centered approaches go by a variety of names such as “Start By Believing,” “trauma-informed,” and “believe the victim.” All of these methods remove the presumption of innocence, contribute to tunnel vision, and undermine the accuracy of the investigative report.
When you took your Oath, you swore to undertake your work with honesty, integrity, and professionalism. Ethics codes likewise require officers to conduct investigations that are impartial and fair. Keeping those words in mind, consider what “Start By Believing” recommends to police investigators:[3]
1. Assure the investigative report uses the “language of non-consensual sex” (page 15)
2. Make the complainant “appear more innocent.” (page 14)
3. Make sure the incident does “not look like a consensual sexual experience” (pages 16-17)
One Department of Justice report went so far as to urge victim-centered investigations to hand “control of the process back to the victim” (p. 9) and even allow the complainant “to request certain investigative steps not be conducted” (p. 13).[4]
These practices represent the exact opposite of honesty, integrity, and impartiality. A recent analysis found that manipulating criminal evidence by police officers contributed to 35% of wrongful convictions.[5] For this reason, the use of victim-centered methods is classified as a form of police misconduct.[6]
As a result, the Arizona Governor’s Commission to Prevent Violence Against Women instructed law enforcement units to not use Start By Believing because it “creates the possibility of real or perceived confirmation bias” (See key parts of the Arizona letter in the first attachment to this letter -- the entire document can be viewed online.[7])
And last month, it was announced that the federal Department of Justice has stopped its funding for “Start By Believing” (See second attachment: “CPI Commends Dept. of Justice for Cessation of Funding for Dishonest ‘Start By Believing’ Investigations”)
Detectives are especially critical of victim-centered methods (See third attachment: “Believe the Victim Investigations Reveal a Callous Disregard for the Truth”). Part of their concern comes from the rapid expansion of Brady Lists,[8] which include officers who have been found to engage in acts of dishonesty.[9] Being placed on such a list can result in the officer’s resignation or termination.[10]
For these reasons, the Center for Prosecutor Integrity is advising your office to take prompt steps to end the use of victim-centered approaches in your jurisdiction. In particular, we urge you to:
1. Issue an advisory warning officers against the use of “victim-centered” methods.
2. Review unit policies to be sure they affirm the necessity of impartial and honest investigations.
3. Take appropriate disciplinary action against officers who utilize guilt-presuming “victim-centered” approaches.
Thank you for your support in assuring the integrity, fairness, and honesty of police investigations.
Sincerely,
Edward E. Bartlett
Citations:
[1] http://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/sa/editorials/
[2] https://judiciary.house.gov/uploadedfiles/violence_against_women_act_2021.pdf
[3] https://evawintl.org/courses/effective-report-writing-using-the-language-of-non-consensual-sex-webinar/
[4] http://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DOJ-Identifying-and-Preventing-Gender-Bias-2016.pdf
[5]https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/Government_Misconduct_and_Convicting_the_Innocent.pdf
[6] https://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/pr/top-legislative-priority-bring-an-end-to-police-misconduct-restore-impartial-and-fair-investigations/
[7] http://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/AZ-Governors-Commission-on-SBB.pdf
[8] https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/Brady-Giglio.pdf
[9] https://www.acluct.org/en/news/connecticut-prosecutors-arent-keeping-track-untrustworthy-cops
[10] https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/full-disclosure-arizona-fails-to-properly-track-problematic-brady-list-cops#:~:text=There%20is%20no%20official%20centralized,current%20as%20of%20mid%2D2019