MILITARY USES NEW VICTIM INTERVIEW TECHNIQUES TO BETTER PROSECUTE SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

New Approach Helps Sexual Assault Victims Recall Details

By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service

BALTIMORE, April 10, 2013 – A new approach to interviewing sexual assault victims is gleaning more information about the crimes and leading to greater numbers of offender prosecutions.

At the End Violence Against Women international conference here last week, Russell Strand, chief of the behavioral sciences education and training division for the Army’s Military Police School at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., spoke with American Forces Press Service about the new Defense Department-backed procedure to investigate sexual assaults.

Calling sexual assault "a secret crime," Strand said the experience for a victim is the "most embarrassing, intimate, life-changing, traumatic thing that can happen to a person." Aside from a murder, he added, he doesn’t know of anything that’s "more debilitating and earth-shattering" than a sexual assault.

In 2011, nearly 3,200 sexual assaults were reported in the military, but Defense Department officials say the number of sexual assaults each year is closer to 19,000, based on anonymous surveys of active-duty service members. Officials also noted that only 1,500 of those cases came up for disciplinary review.

Because law enforcement investigations are designed more for witnesses rather than victims, Strand said, he developed the forensic experiential trauma interview as a way to interview victims without making them relive the assault.

Through neuroscience research, he said, he found that part of the forefront of the brain shuts down or is slow to recall key parts of a trauma during an attack. But a primitive part of the brain stem almost instantly records the event accurately, he said.

With that scientific information, Strand said, he tried the law enforcement "debriefing" approach on sexual assault victims by gaining their trust and talking about how they felt, rather than asking leading questions, such as "What happened?"

"We show genuine empathy, and say things such as, ‘I’m sorry that happened to you,’" Strand explained. "The second thing we say is, ‘Help me understand,’ and ‘What are you able to remember about your experience?’"

Strand said Criminal Investigation Division agents and other trained military investigators then stop questioning and sit back to listen to the victim’s recollection.

Rather than asking about the attack in a chronological order, Strand said, he lets victims go in any direction they want, because that aligns with how they’ve memorized it.
Investigators then put the assault into a sequence of chronological events, he added.

"We want to get to their memories, so we ask about the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and their feelings," Strand said.

Through this approach, he said, investigators want to look for evidence of trauma and the absence of consent in a sexual assault. Working with the senses is a "powerful" technique that triggers memories the victims don’t realize they could recall, he noted.

Once the psychophysiological evidence is gathered, Strand said, the investigator can then ask traditional questions while the victim’s barriers are relaxed, such as when, where and how the assault happened.

Since 2009, more than 700 special agents and prosecutors from each branch of the military have taken forensic experiential trauma interview training, and 500 more are scheduled to complete the course by the end of September, Strand said. He also said DOD has funded more than 400 seats for the FETI special victims’ unit course through fiscal year 2017.

Strand said his goal through FETI is to bring the military prevalence rates down for victims -- both men and women -- while making sure that cultural change occurs regarding sexual assault. It might take five to 10 years for the prevalence rates to decrease and he expects reporting rates to increase, he added.

"What we want victims to know is they can be confident we are working really hard to understand what they’ve gone through, to understand their experience and help them remember [it] in the most natural, scientific way," Strand said.

Strand said he also wants sexual offenders to know that law enforcement investigations of sexual assault have become much more sophisticated in identifying their behaviors, and that the crime is now investigated in a manner in which it never has been before. "They are at much greater risk of being caught than they were five or 10 years ago," he added.

With DOD backing and collaborating with the civilian sector, Strand said, "we want to lead the nation, and I think other countries are looking at us to get this right."

"And we have the capability to do that," he added.

U.S. MARSHALS ANNOUNCE ARREST OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND KIDNAPPING SUSPECT

FROM:  U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE
Reno's Fugitive Task Force Arrests Colorado Sexual Assault and Kidnapping Suspect
Reno, NV – The Reno United States Marshals Service (USMS) led Fugitive Task Force, in partnership with the Department of Veterans Police, announces the arrest of Landan R. McMain (28). McMain is wanted by the Colorado Springs Police Department on an outstanding arrest warrant for multiple charges including kidnapping and sexual assault. It is alleged in 2006; McMain kidnapped and sexually assaulted an adult female. The warrant for arrest was issued on April 12, 2012 after McMain was determined to be a suspect.
After receiving information McMain was residing in Northern Nevada, the Task Force worked with the Department of Veterans Police to affect the arrest. McMain was arrested this afternoon, without incident, where he was employed at the Reno Veterans Administration Medical Center. He has been booked into the Washoe County Jail, as a fugitive from justice, awaiting extradition to Colorado.

The Fugitive Task Force, led by the U.S. Marshals Service, is a partnership comprised of law enforcement investigators from the United States Marshals Service, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, Nevada Department of Public Safety (Probation & Parole), and Sparks Police Department. The Task Force combines the resources and expertise of local, state, and federal law enforcement in a coordinated effort to arrest dangerous fugitives and pursue sexual offenders wherever they are located.

SUSPECT WHO ALLEGEDLY SEXUALLY ASSAULTED A DISABLED FEMALE OFFENDER IS APPREHENDED

The following excerpt is from the U.S. Marshals Service website:

“On October 6, 2011 the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office requested the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service in locating and apprehending Rhoades. Rhoades is alleged to have sexually assaulted a disabled female and is a suspect in another sexual assault that occurred on a running trail in the Fond du Lac area.
Investigation by Deputy Marshals led them to concentrate their search in the city of Green Bay. At approximately noon today Rhoades was spotted exiting a local soup kitchen and was taken into custody in the 1200 block of Velp Avenue. Marshal Carr stated that the alleged conduct in this case made Rhoades’ apprehension a priority for his office.
To search for sex offenders in Wisconsin, please visit http://wisconsindoc.familywatchdog.us/ by clicking on the tab indicated as “National Sex Offender Registry”. Searches can be done for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Indian Country.
The U.S. Marshals Service is the lead law enforcement agency responsible for investigating sex offender registration violations and related offenses in connection with violations of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. Enacted on July 27, 2006, this Act directed the United States Marshals to assist state, local, tribal and territorial authorities in locating and apprehending non-compliant and fugitive sex offenders. Offenders who are found residing out of state can be charged federally and, often times, those charges carry more severe penalties. To ensure the safety of children across the country, the U.S. Marshals implemented an aggressive enforcement strategy. Since the law was enacted, the United States Marshals have arrested more than 34,000 fugitives for Sex Offenses, Failure to Register and Failure to Comply with Sex Offenders Registration Requirements. This resulted in the closure of more than 42,000 warrants.”