Ministry of Justice investigating the work of NYPD sex crime units

The prosecutor said Thursday that he had treated victims of sexual crime after concluding that there was "significant justification" and after receiving reports of defects for more than a decade.

Kristen Clark, Deputy Chief of the Citizenship Division of the Ministry of Justice, and two US lawyers in New Yorkannounced an investigationin the release, a special victim of the ministry. He said he would thoroughly consider the department. To determine if it is involved in a gender-biased pattern of policing.

"Survivors of sexual assault should expect effective, trauma-based, victim-centric investigations by police stations," Clark said. "Based on the information provided to the Department of Justice, we have found important justification for investigating whether NYPD's Special Victims Department is engaged in gender-biased policing patterns or practices."

Investigation reports inadequate practices by NYPD in investigating sexual crimes and claims that two women are special victims of NYPD It will take place after the 2019 lawsuit. The division was abusing them.

A woman claimed that the detective shrugged her, recording her report of being raped by someone she was involved with as a "conflict" rather than a sexual offense.

Another woman said her explanation of being kidnapped and gang-raped was badly mishandled by sex criminal investigators in the months before the case was said to be "too complicated." rice field.

After the litigation and leadership shake-up, NYPD promised to change the way. However, victims say the promised reforms have not arrived.

Justice Ministry officials said they would contact community groups and the general public to learn about interactions with the department.

The investigation includes the police station's policies, procedures, and training on investigating sexual assault crimes by troops, including how to interact with survivors and witnesses, collect evidence, and complete the investigation. Reviews are included, they said. ..

They also havestaffingand which police are to address flaws in the handling of sexual assault crimes, such as the services and support they provide to survivors of sexual assault. He said he would like to see if such measures were taken. ..

Bronpeace lawyer in the United States said NYPD has already taken stepsto address concerns, but officials said the victims of sexual assault would be in the future. I want to be treated fairly.

Damian Williams, a US lawyer in Manhattan, said victims of sexual crime "deserve the same rigorous and equitable investigation that NYPD gives to other categories of crime."

"Similarly, the relentless and effective pursuit of perpetrators of sexual violence is essential for public safety, without suffering from gender stereotypes or discriminatory treatment." He added.

A message asking for a comment was left in NYPD.

Max Young, a spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams, told CBS News in a statement that the Mayor's Office would "fully cooperate" with the investigation.

"Law enforcement is a higher priority than ensuring that victims of sexual assault receive the justice they deserve and the care, support and treatment they need," he said. Said.

After the 2019 lawsuit, NYPD appointed Judith Harrison, a woman who leads a perplexed department, and moved on to what she calls a "victim-centric" approach. Within a year I moved to another position.

In 2020, the department appointed a veteran investigator and forensic nurse Michael King to the post. King experienced the implementation of highly physical examinations and evidence gathering essential to resolving sexual crime cases and spent part of her first few days going to the hospital to assist her doctor with a rape kit. Spent on.

However, King was dismissed from work in February in dissatisfaction with his leadership and continued mishandling of departmental cases.

Last October, a woman named Christine said at a city council hearing that a detective had made a fundamental mistake in her rape investigation.

She said she couldn't interview witnesses or collect security camera footage from the bar she was in before the attack.

Instead, she says she wants to set up a "controlled phone that gives me trauma with the man who raped me" and failed her Daytrap drug test without telling her I closed the case twice.