NYPD Works To Remedy Response To Sexual Assaults Following Criticism
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A string of sexual assaults in Brooklyn has communities on edge, and while the New York City Police Department is working to help women, some say their methods could use some tweaking. NY1’s Dean Meminger filed the following report.Police officers have been handing out a pamphlet called “Safeguards Against Sexual Assault” to women in Brooklyn as a response to a string of assaults. There's good information in it, but some parts are outdated: The sheet was developed in 1992, nearly 20 years ago, and contains things that many young people may have never heard of or used.
For example, it states, "If you must use a personal stereo (e.g. Walkman, etc.), keep the volume down low enough so you can hear your surroundings." In the era of the iPod, some may not realize that the walkman is basically an old school version of the same device.
The sheet also never mentions cell phones, instead urging victims to "use a public or a
neighbor's telephone to call 911."
Councilman Brad Lander said the community and police in Brooklyn are working on an updated version that could be distributed citywide.
"You can barely read it, the type is so small," said Lander.
As police have worked hard to find who's sexually attacking women in Brooklyn, there've been concerns over how officers have approached those they’re supposed to protect.
"There were some reports of officers following women home for their safety, but not informing them that they were officers, which can be very, very scary, especially when you know there is a rapist on the loose,” said Shelby Knox of Change.org.
Activists say there's also been at least one case of an officer suggesting that a woman tone down her style of dress.
"When the police are telling women don't wear skirts, don't wear shorts, it’s very insensitive,” said Knox.
Lander said there have been cases of officers showing women video of the attacks without prior warning.
"In some cases, the police showed a very graphic video to women. A lot of women themselves have been victims of some kind of sexual assault, sexual violence so that triggered real emotions,” said Lander.
Community leaders say all of these issues have been discussed with local police commanders in Park Slope and Sunset Park, and they've agreed to be more sensitive to women while trying to stop future attacks.