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25.4 SEXUAL VIOLENCE Page 1 of 4 EDGEWOOD POLICE DEPARTMENT GENERAL ORDER # 25.4 SEXUAL VIOLENCE Revision Date: January 5, 2022 The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines for response to incidents of sexual violence. This policy contains the following numbered sections: I. Scope II. General III. Investigative Procedures I. SCOPE A. Department personnel shall respond to all allegations of sexual violence. B. It shall be the policy of the department to: 1. Attempt to reduce the incidence and severity of sexual violence 2. Make every effort to protect victims of sexual violence and provide them support II. GENERAL A. The first officer on the scene shall be in charge of the investigation until relieved by a supervisor or the department investigator. The supervisor shall determine if the department investigator shall be called out to the scene. B. Victim advocates are avail able on a call -out basis from the Victim’s Service Center. The department investigator shall determine if the victim advocate should respond and to what location. C. Consideration should be given to the following during interviews of victims: 1. When intervie wing sex crime victims , officers shall consider that the victim is probably in a state of mental shock and may be enduring severe emotional crisis. It is important that the victim be interviewed carefully but thoroughly. a. As much suspect information as possible shall be obtained and shall promptly be broadcast ed to other units in the area if appropriate 25.4 SEXUAL VIOLENCE Page 2 of 4 b. Patrol officers shall limit their interviews of victims to determine if a crime has been committed. The department investigator shall be responsible for a detailed interview 2. The department shall minimize the number of interviews of victims to reduce the potential for emotional stress. 3. The victim shall be interviewed: a. As soon as possible b. In private and with confidentiality 1. Unauthorized persons shall not be permitted in the interview area including parents, other relatives, friends, etc. 2. If the victim is very young or insists that someone be with them, the privacy rule may be waived as long as the officer is certain that this person is not a suspect 3. If the victim is very young , information for the offense report shall be obtained from an adult not the child c. In surroundings that will relax the victim as much as possible 4. Information regarding juvenile victims provided to officers by DCF investigators or Child Protection Te am investigators may be relied upon as the basis for an Incident Report. a. It is not necessary for the officer to re -interview the juvenile b. Officers shall indicate in the narrative portion of their report what information was obtained from another investigator and list that investigator’s name, address and telephone number. 5. If the victim requests to be interviewed by an officer of the same gender every effort shall be made to grant this request 6. The victim shall be assured that their identit y will be protected from the media D. Victims shall be provided medical/counseling assistance as necessary. E. Witnesses and other persons having knowledge of the offense shall be interviewed separately and in private to help establish the validity of the offense. F. Victims and witnesses of sexual violence shall be given a copy of the department Sexual Violence Brochure III. INVESTIGATIVE PROCEDURES A. Patrol investigations of sex crimes are preliminary in nature. B. Officers shall initiate and complete an Incident Report for all victims of a sex crime. C. Do not get a written statement from the Victim. In the event the Victim is here temporarily (i.e. vacation), a written statement may need to be obtained. Notify your supervisor or the detective before obtaining. D. The initial responding officer shall be responsible for establishing the elements of the offense and probable cause. These findings shall be documented in the initial report 25.4 SEXUAL VIOLENCE Page 3 of 4 E. The department investigator shall be responsible for completing all follow - up/investigative reports of the incident. F. Officers are encouraged to utilize the Field Intervi ew Report for suspicious persons they encounter who might be potential sex crime offenders. G. Evidence collection procedures require the following: 1. The department investigator shall be responsible for ensuring that the scene is processed either by department personnel or Orange County Sheriff’s Office crime scene personnel. 2. All evidence obtained shall be entered into evidence in accordance with department polic y. 3. The victim’s clothing, bed clothing and other evidence shall be collected. a. Each item collected shall be individually packaged for future lab analysis. b. This shall be accomplished by the department investigator 4. An examination of the victim shall be conducted as soon as possible after the offense occurs. 5. The department investigator shall ensure that the Sexual Assault Kit is logged into Evidence 6. The victim of a sexual offense has the right to request tes ting of the sexual offense evidence kit, or other DNA evidence if a kit is not collected. This evidence must be delivered to the FDLE criminal analysis laboratory system for forensic testing within 30 days. (F.S. 943.326) H. Sexual battery investigation procedures shall be as follows. In addition to those investigative procedures outlined previously officers shall: 1. Determine the time span between the time the offense occurred and the time reported 2. If so requested by the department investigator , transport