Communicating with Law Enforcement

When you decide to talk to a police officer, it can help to set your expectations from the beginning and understand the process. You will interact with the judicial authorities when you file the complaint, then a follow-up meeting with a prosecutor or police officer specialized in forensic interviewing may be scheduled. A forensic exam may also be required, as well as a psychological assessment to evaluate the trauma. All of these procedures may involve you in the investigation for a longer period of time.

What can I expect?

Efforts are being made to create and operate a process centered on people who have experienced any form of sexual violence. Knowing what to expect and when to ask questions will make it easier to feel comfortable and in control of the situation.

• You should have privacy. When you discuss what happened to you with a prosecutor or police officer, it should happen in a quiet area away from others. If you feel that the situation is too public, ask to be relocated to a more private space.
• It may take a while. When filing the complaint, as a rule, the accompanying person is interviewed first, so that the victim's situation is documented. When the victim is a child, the hearing is scheduled for a later day so that it can be prepared. This may even take a few days. As a rule, children are not called to give statements after 8 p.m. There may be additional meetings, when new elements appear in the investigation, but the rule is that a child should not be heard more than once.
• You can take a break. If you need water, a snack, or just a minute to breathe, you can ask for a break. Investigators should accommodate these requests. The hearing protocol anyway includes a break to establish all the details related to the case.
• Some questions may feel uncomfortable. Because of the nature of sexual assault, some questions can feel uncomfortable or intrusive. Use whatever terms or phrases make you most comfortable. The criminal investigators already know a lot of expressions related to sexual violence, and are prepared to listen to what happened.
• You may hear the same question more than once. The investigators may ask the same questions several times or several different ways. It’s not because they don’t trust you - after a trauma it can be difficult to describe the details. Repeating a question or asking in a different way may prompt you to remember something you forgot the first time.
• You can have support. It can be helpful and comforting to have support when communicating with a police officer or prosecutor:
  • By someone you trust - a family member, friend, colleague or even your partner.
  • A psychologist will be called to attend the hearing each time the victim is a child under the age of 14. 
  • If the victims are children, the police and prosecutors are obliged to request the presence of a lawyer. You can, however, choose to be accompanied by a lawyer you know or trust.

What should I know about law enforcement’s process?

You may be asked to speak with law enforcement several times throughout an investigation. Some questions can seem personal, invasive, or simply annoying. You may feel more comfortable if you understand the goals behind law enforcement’s process.

• Proving lack of consent is a priority. The majority of sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim. Because of this, the difficulty in prosecuting is rarely about identifying a suspect - it’s about proving a lack of consent. After the amendment of the criminal law, if the victim is under 16 and the aggressor is an adult, and the age difference is greater than 5 years, the facts will automatically be classified as rape, that means, there will no longer be an analysis of the expressed consent.
• There are police officers trained on the impact of trauma. They are trained not to label a false report based on an initial interview, a victim’s response to the trauma, a statement that was taken back or recanted, or refusal to press charges. Police officers from BAS - Bureau of Sexual Assaults, but also more and more professionals in the country, understand that the trauma suffered can affect the way the victim behaves.

What goes into the report?

When receiving a complaint, the police officers need to know as much information as possible: who are the people involved, the date or time when the sexual violence took place and a brief description of the facts. Information collected may include:

• Description of the assault: details about what occurred; sensory experiences, such as what the victim saw, smelled, tasted, heard or felt during the assault; the victim’s exact words or phrases, quoted directly (especially in cases with an unknown author).
• Indication of force: coercion, threats, and/or force and the victim’s response during and after; signs of fear including fight, flight, or freeze reactions from the victim.
• Lack of consent: what NO looked or felt like for the individual victim - noting that silence is not consent and NO or resistance is communicated through more than just words; any details that show how a consensual encounter turned nonconsensual.
• Signs of premeditation: any interactions that might indicate premeditation or grooming behavior by the perpetrator.
• Timeline and victim response: a timeline to show trauma behavior in context of previous behavior, such as weight loss or gain, changes in routine; documentation of the victim’s condition as observed.

If you want to talk about sexual violence with a professional ready to help, send an email to: help@asistentavictime.ro