rmiller1959 wrote: ↑July 21st, 2021, 11:21 pm
rtb72 wrote: ↑July 21st, 2021, 10:20 pm
Just curious...In NC, municipal police departments have original jurisdiction on campuses in their jurisdiction. As such, a campus police cannot restrict them from investigation of criminal activity on campus if they so desire. Generally, the local PD will "yield" to the campus PD for cases on campus, but in NC...they don't have to. Usually it's because the local PD is already holding a massive case load. I've seen some serious conflict in this regard, when a governmentally vested police agency conducted an investigation over the authority and protests of a campus police. Nevertheless, the state AG backed the local police. My point being, I would be interested to know where Lynchburg PD stands on LU's campus police in general and their ability and proactivity in particular. In NC, campus police are essentially the same as "company police". Is that a similar situation in Va? Were ANY of these cases reported to the municipal authorities? If not, why did LUPD not at least pass on and/or consult with the LPD on the matter. My own experience has demonstrated to me that it is NEVER a good idea for a campus police to investigate serious crimes involving their students or staff. Mainly because of what appears to be manifesting here. While there is a statute of limitations on many crimes, felony sexual assaults are not included; if these allegations appear even remotely true....LPD should be notified/requested to come in and investigate criminally. Hopefully, the civil suits will serve as a catalyst for that, if the allegations are founded.
"According to a Mutual Aid Agreement between the Liberty University Police Department, the Lynchburg Police Department and the city of Lynchburg, LUPD has control of investigations on Liberty University's campus."
https://wset.com/news/abc13-investigate ... lu-lawsuit
Sexual assault investigations are extremely sensitive, for obvious reasons...unlike property crimes, as one has alluded to here previously. You are spot on when you noted there are no statute of limitations of felony sex crimes. Here is a link to a well known site within professional LE circles that provides real-world insight into the truths of these types of crimes:
https://www.police1.com/police-products ... oS1WxaXUu/
Some key takeaways from the article that are facts directly related to the LUPD situation:
Scope of the Crime – Why Rape Often Goes Unreported
According to the UCR, 94,635 persons were raped in the United States in 2004. Note: These figures represent only reported forcible rapes. Although we don’t know exactly how many people are raped each year, according to a 1999 FBI law enforcement bulletin, up to 84 percent of all sexual assaults go unreported. In Criminal investigation (McGraw Hill, 2006), the authors cite a series of studies indicating why women do not report being raped:
Worries of unsympathetic treatment from police and discomforting procedures;
Lack of belief in the police’s ability to apprehend the suspect;
Fear of further victimization by court proceedings (a result of television programs or newspaper reports);
Embarrassment about publicity, however limited; and
Fear of reprisal by the rapist.
Other textbooks on criminal investigation posit insensitive treatment by law enforcement personnel is the primary cause rape is not reported. This may be true in isolated instances, but in my 30 years of investigative experience, the police officers I’ve worked with fully understand the psychological trauma experienced by rape victims and go to great lengths to treat the victim with compassion and professionalism. What may be lacking is the coordinated skill set in investigation rape from organizational (administration to management), supervisory and line perspectives. This column will discuss dispatcher and first responder duties.
We must be
extremely careful when we "speak" on the "why" that victims do not report immediately or at all, wait long periods of time, and so forth. To forcibly have sex with someone is devastating, emotionally, spiritually, and physically; make it personal...stop and think about an act like this carried out on your wife, mom, or daughter. To throw emotion driven opinions out on a victim spotlights much foolish ignorance on the one speaking. And...last but not least, lest anyone arrogantly points out that the article is from 2006, I can tell you from experience that sadly, very little has changed regarding the elements of sexual assault/rape investigations.
"It is far better to be a warrior tending his garden rather than a gardener at war."