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June 29, 2010

New rape hotline to be installed

Baltimore authorities are planning a new hotline for women who are victims of sexual assaults. This comes after Sunday's Baltimore Sun report that showed city police lead the nation in "unfounded" rape reports.

Women are complaining that detectives sometimes try to talk women out of filing reports. Officials have already announced they will audit the police department's sexual offense unit. This hotline is one way for victims to talk with someone more sympathetic. Details will be announced later this afternoon.

Here is what we know so far from the mayor's office:

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld are to announce the creation of a new hotline for victims/survivors of rape and sexual assault to connect with services and report past incidents or mistreatment that may have occurred while reporting a crime of sexual assault.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Breaking news, City Hall, Confronting crime, Top brass

Comments

Good, now any unhappy beotch can call and file false charges on any man that disses them!

Posted by: Anonymous | June 29, 2010 4:21 PM

This is one of those stories that is both gratifying, because it is a good idea, and upsetting because this has not been in place.

Posted by: Tony | June 29, 2010 4:36 PM

The city should be cracking down on all the dumb @$$ women who have sex with unemployed boys and then bitch about child support. Solution, if a women wants child support, whatever the judge orders the father to pay, she must match it. If she fails to match payments then the father does not have to pay.

Posted by: uche | June 29, 2010 6:20 PM

I suppose Male sexual assault victims will just...what?

Posted by: Etek | June 29, 2010 6:28 PM

My daughter was drugged with GHB (confirmed w/toxicology) kidnapped and raped in federal hill last NOvember. DNA found with identified preditor and the states attorney DROPPED the charges. Good Luck with your new program but we need to fix the the broken justice system first

Posted by: a mother | July 4, 2010 10:11 AM

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About Peter Hermann

Peter Hermann started covering news for The Baltimore Sun in 1990, first in Anne Arundel County and, starting in 1994, reporting on the Baltimore Police Department. In 2001, he was assigned to Jerusalem as the Baltimore Sun's Middle East correspondent. He returned in 2005 as an assistant city editor overseeing crime coverage. In 2008, Peter returned to the beat as a daily reporter and blogger. A recent BBC report featured him in a segment on the harsh realities of covering crime in Baltimore.

Coverage will focus on crime trends, problems in neighborhoods in the city and elsewhere, profiles of victims and police officers and try to offer readers a fresh perspective on one of the most vexing issues facing Baltimore and its future.

Contributing to this blog is Justin Fenton, who joined The Sun in 2005 and has covered the Baltimore City Police Department and the criminal justice system since 2008. His work includes an investigation into Cal Ripken Jr.’s minor league baseball stadium deal with his hometown of Aberdeen, a three-part series chronicling a ruthless con woman, coverage of the killing of five Amish children at a schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pa., and a job swap with a British crime reporter to explore differences in crime-fighting. A special report looking into how city police handle rape cases led to sweeping reforms that changed the way sexual assaults are investigated in Baltimore. He was recognized as the best reporter in Baltimore by the City Paper in 2010 and by Baltimore Magazine in 2011.

Follow @phscoop, @justin_fenton on Twitter