How Do Investigation Experiences Shape Views of the Police? Qualitatively Exploring Sexual Assault Survivors’ Interactions With Police Detectives and Subsequent Views of the Police

Measures

The interview protocol focused on survivors’ assault and experiences of help-seeking, recovery, the decision to report to the police, and (for those who reported) experiences with the investigation and interactions with the detective(s) conducting the investigation. Participants were encouraged to tell their entire story of the assault and post-assault experience, but the interview primarily focused on their pathway to contact with the police, interactions with officers/detectives including positive and negative experiences, how these interactions made them feel, and how this contributed to things such as recovery, trust in the police, satisfaction with the police, and willingness to cooperate with the investigation. For the present study, we focus on data related to survivors’ views of the police.

Data Analysis

While transcribing the interviews, the researcher noted patterns occurring across interviews which were used in initial codebook development (first impression codes; Ezzy, 2002). The codes are descriptive in nature, summarizing the primary topic of the excerpt (Saldana, 2012). The researcher performed sample/practice coding (initial coding; Charmaz, 2006) which resulted in several iterations of the codebook where codes were revised, removed, added, and combined. A final version of the codebook was developed when the researcher could code the interviews using the codes listed in the codebook in their current form.

The researcher used the codebook to code all the interviews using Atlas.ti qualitative analysis software. Coding was completed through a focused coding method (Charmaz, 2006) whereby codes were selected that best represented what was happening in the transcript. Because the original coding was completed by a sole researcher, a random sample of five interviews were coded by an independent second coder trained in qualitative analysis to enhance the trustworthiness of the data (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) and calculate the interrater agreement between both coder’s interpretations of the data (Campbell et al., 2013). Intercoder reliability was assessed by calculating the agreement in use of the 10 most used codes across all twenty-eight transcripts (Burla et al., 2008). We addressed discrepancies through discussion of code selection with the second coder to reach a full consensus, followed by changes to the coded text. We identified themes within the text that naturally emerged during analysis and reflect survivors’ experiences with the investigation process and subsequent views of the police.

Detective-Survivor Interactions

The majority (n = 17; 61%) of participants characterized their experiences with the detective as negative. Aspects of their experiences like being listened to, feeling like their safety needs were being met, feeling like their case was prioritized, and being respected were highlighted by participants as contributing to the quality of the interaction. Participants also discussed the need for the detective to express belief that the assault occurred which was important for emotional support and validation but also conveyed to the participant that the detective found that their experience was worthy of investigating (which in turn, created a sense of trust in the detective). Several participants spoke about empathy, feeling like the detective cared about their situation, and not being blamed for the assault. Those who described negative interactions used terms like “disrespected,” “harsh,” “skeptical,” “revictimization,” “unhelpful,” “detached,” “unresponsive,” “frustrating,” “intimidating,” “accusatory,” “unsupportive,” “invalidating,” and “dismissive.” Those who discussed positive aspects of their interactions used terms like “helpful,” “protective,” “nice,” “believed,” “prioritized,” “compassionate,” “supportive,” “empathetic,” and “informative.” The following sections discuss how these experiences shaped their views of the police.

Negative Views of the Police

Eighteen participants (64%) made statements to support negative views of the police. The excerpts below from three participants highlight survivors’ negative views of the police as a result of the interactions during their investigation:

I think that (police department) looks at sexual assault and thinks, but we have real crime going on. – Jamie (Woman, white, age 18–30)

I immediately don’t trust police officers at all and in like any environment. [. . .] In terms of any crime or any kind of way that you would want to rely on police, I don’t. – Jackie (woman, white, age 18–30)

I don’t have much faith in (city) police department at all. Like they will not do anything. That could be very well because I had so many negative experiences, so after that I’m just kind of like everyone in the police department is untrustworthy to me. I am just so disgusted every time I see them [the police] now and I just have no. . .I don’t trust them with anything. – Bonnie (woman, white, age 18–30)

Jamie’s comment touches on the belief that police do not take sexual violence seriously, a common sentiment shared by sexual violence survivors who feel minimized or invalidated when seeking help from the police. Jackie raised the important notion of “trust” and her inability to rely on the police in any capacity. Her statement was not tied specifically to sexual assault, though her experiences during the sexual assault investigation led her to not trust police for anything she may need as a community member. Bonnie and Jamie’s comments were tied to the specific departments they interacted with. Their experiences shaped their views toward the police at that department, but not their views toward the police in general.

Vanessa discussed her distrust in the police following ongoing interactions during the investigation of her child sexual abuse. Almost 20 years later, she still feels negatively about police:

I think I am also a little bit scared of cops. Like I don’t trust them to protect me but I also don’t trust them to not hurt me, which is unfortunate. Like if I walk my dog late at night in the park by myself late at night because the police drive around to the parks and stuff. And when I see them come up, I don’t feel safer I just feel like great, there’s two more men here that I don’t trust and who also will have no repercussions if they do hurt me. So, in a way I kind of trust police less because I know for certain that they can in a way – and I think a lot of women feel this way – but after having been assaulted like that I know that at the end of the day most times if there is a man walking somewhere and the opportunity is right, that like if he wanted to, he could hurt me and that’s a scary feeling that I don’t think a lot of people realize. And when you add that on top of being a police officer, so then it’s like who do you call on a police officer? So then yeah, I have even more distrust. Which sucks. – Vanessa (woman, white, age 18–30)

Similar to Jackie, Vanessa raised the issue of trust in the police. Vanessa specifically discusses that she cannot trust the police to not hurt her, let alone protect her, because there is little accountability for officers who do engage in harmful behaviors. Consequently, Vanessa does not feel safe in her community, something that she (like any community member) should be entitled to.

The nature of the assault may affect survivors’ confidence in the police to investigate crimes. Like Vanessa and Jackie, other participants discussed their confidence and trust in the police but it was tied to their ability to investigate particular crimes. Three participants discussed their lack of faith in the handling of assaults that occur in the context of domestic violence, as expressed by Louisa:

I think they [the police] would make it worse. Because there is a lot of bias, especially around the domestic violence area. If I was assaulted on the [public transportation] then they would probably believe me but because I was in a relationship, then people have the tendency to not believe you and just kind of dismiss it. They don’t really take it seriously. – Louisa (woman, Hispanic, age 40–60)

Having confidence in the police to investigate some crimes but not others suggest the potential complexity of views of the police and the possibility that police are equipped to respond to some crimes but not others. Like Jamie, Louisa shared that the police do not take domestic and sexual violence crimes seriously. Yet, if she were harmed in public then the police may believe her and take the matter seriously which alludes to the notion of rape myth acceptance among officers, where their response is shaped by stereotypical contextual factors like being assaulted by a stranger versus a romantic partner (Venema et al., 2019).

In some cases, the negative experiences with the police (and subsequent negative police views) led participants to pursue advocacy to prevent other survivors from mistreatment. Two participants who shared negative sentiments about the police discussed taking on an advocacy role in response to the harmful treatment they experienced by the detectives who investigated their case:

I am much more passionate about making sure that this sort of situation, as in the after response that I got, does not happen again in this city, in this state, in this country, in this world. Like I don’t think that is okay. I’m still more angry at the police than I am at him [the perpetrator]. – Candice (woman, white, age 18–30)

Oh, I hated the police enough to become an advocate just so I could ensure that they didn’t treat other women like that. – Courtney (woman, white, age 18–30)

Candice remarked how she was more upset with the police than she was at the perpetrator. This illustrates the magnitude of the effect mistreatment can have on perceptions of the police.

Mixed Views of the Police

As presented above, most participants discussed some negative feelings about the police based on their interactions during the investigation. Yet, it was common for participants to follow up these sentiments with the acknowledgment that this problematic treatment is not reflective of all police officers, which suggests they may be mixed in their general views of the police. Many survivors (n = 12) discussed mixed feelings when asked to explain their opinions of the police. Participants frequently arrived at the idea of mixed views of the police when they were reluctant to base their views of the police on only their experiences during the investigation, resulting in them making individual-level judgments rather than views of the police overall. For example, Lucy explained she did not want to project her negative attitudes on all police and found it unfair to generalize. However, her experience with the officers from a childhood sexual assault experience resulted in her having limited confidence in the legal system or police officers:

I never have [had faith], which sucks because I know that there are a lot of cops who would do the right thing. I’m not saying all of them don’t but I know that there are good police officers, and good lawyers, and good people doing that kind of work but when you have those bad experiences where you’re not protected from something that is so important then that trust is totally gone and you just get into the mode where you take care of it yourself, and I think that’s what I always did after that. – Lucy (woman, white, age 18–30)

Lucy expressed these views of the police which led her to not rely on the police when seeking help, again raising the notion of trust like other participants have. However, Lucy’s trust differed from others, as her inability to trust led her to mixed and not negative views of the police overall. However, it is important to note that even mixed views of the police can contribute to a reluctance to contact law enforcement for assistance.

While participants had negative experiences with the particular detectives they interacted with, they were reluctant to generalize these experiences to their views of the police in general, or even the specific department handling their case.

I go by an officer-by-officer basis. I don’t do broad strokes. I’ve never done broad strokes. I’ll give you enough rope to hang yourself. – Ron (man, Black, age 40–60)

I tend to trust a police officer until he shows me he can’t be trusted. – Ashley (woman, unknown race/ethnicity, age 40–60)

You might have a bad cop but for every bad cop you’re going to have a good cop. – Megan (woman, white, age 18–30)

These comments tie into the notion of the “bad apple” police officer, where there are some officers who are problematic, but there are also good officers and good police departments. For example, Ron commented above that he was unwilling to do “broad strokes” when talking about the police, suggesting that his views of the police are individual-level and based on the specific officers he is interacting with. This philosophy may be a result of multiple police experiences: for Ron, he discussed interacting with the police frequently throughout his life. In some situations, the police mistreated him, but in others he developed strong, positive relationships with the officers who frequently foot patrolled his neighborhood. As such, positive experiences with some police, but not all, may contribute to views that are based on individual-level experiences rather than generalizations about the police.

For others, their experiences with the detectives working on their case led them to conclude that the institution of police is neither good nor bad, but a gamble determined by the officer(s) working on the case. While these participants differed from those quoted above in that they were unwilling to generalize, they were similar in the notion of ascribing their views of the police to individual officers rather than the larger policing institution.

I just kind of got the impression that they [detectives] were only supportive at all because I did everything as they wanted me to. And I knew that. I didn’t have any delusions about that so my opinion hasn’t really changed. Although I will say that I have encountered some officers and detectives were really great. It’s a mixed bag but I feel like it’s more often than not they’re ignorant in some way or another. – Jo (woman, white, age 18–30)

Unfortunately, with the police departments it is really the luck of the draw. You might get a really understanding male or female cop that wants to help you or you may get that jerk who’s just going to look at you and be like ‘tough shit’. – Dani (woman, white, age 18–30)

There’ve been some really good ones where they’ve been friendly. [. . .] So I’m not saying that’s completely negative but their [the police] attitudes in interviewing that is something, well I’m 65, is something that scared me. I could imagine what it would do to a much younger person. – Julia (woman, white, age 60+)

These participants described the police as mixture of “good” and “bad” officers, where—like Ron—positive experiences with specific officers may lead to a reluctance to characterize the police in general as negative.

Two participants explained their conflicting feelings toward the police while considering the difficulty of police work. In discussing their views of the police, they were sympathetic to the difficulties of being a police officer and considered this in their opinions:

You know, they [police] have their own bad experiences. It’s a difficult job. It really is. It’s a very tough job for them to do and they encounter damaged people all the time. They have their own damage inside and their own set of fears and their own experiences. I feel like they’re a mix. I feel like they do a tough job. I think there are some bad police. I think most of them are probably good people doing a really tough job. – Carrie (woman, white, age 40–60)

I feel like it’s [police work] really tough. I don’t want to stereotype all police officers at all. It’s unfair for me to say that I generally mistrust the police, it’s more that I don’t trust the bureaucracy and I don’t trust them [police] to prioritize. Like in the example I gave about untested rape kits. Like I just don’t trust the police to prioritize it. – April (woman, white, age 18–30)

Again, these participants discussed the mixture of police, but considered the contextual factors of police work rather than basing their perspectives on their personal or vicarious experiences. This shows that there are factors that may lead people to respect and sympathize with police but understand that there are problems with policing practices.

When asked about their views of the police, four participants spoke about their views in relation to the current happenings regarding police brutality and the BLM movement:

When I think about the police being bad, it’s how they treat the young black men. – Dianne (woman, Black, age 60+)

That’s a tough question. So, if I am thinking about, there’s just been so much going on in the news right now so me being a Black woman I’m very much conflicted. Right after my rape, not right after, but before everything with BLM has come through I have always felt a little more sense of comfort around the police and if I was walking by myself and its dusk or whatever have you, and I feel uncomfortable because someone is walking too close behind me or something like that, like if I pass a police officer there’s something inside of me that relaxes a little bit because of the experience I had [during the investigation]. And so, I’ve had a little more confidence in them and I went to a, maybe a few years after my rape, I did do group therapy at (location) and hearing other women’s stories on how police treated them I was a little bit shocked because I didn’t realize how fortunate I was to have such a good experience. . .So, I felt fortunate. Now it’s just a mixed bag because I still feel like I can trust the police in those sorts of situations but at the same time, as a Black female I kind of don’t feel like I can trust them so that’s where my internal struggle comes from with the police. – Bri (woman, Black, age 30–40)

Now I have more of a general distrust because of all the police brutality but I still try to maintain a positive mentality. – Kelly (woman, white, age 18–30)

These participants acknowledged the experiences of those affected by police brutality in explaining their feelings toward the police. Bri talked about the cognitive dissonance she felt when thinking about her views of the police: She had positive interactions with the police and feels safe in their presence, but the experiences of others who share her identities as Black, woman, and as a sexual assault survivor make her question her trust in the police. Kelly mentioned brutality but inserted that she tries to not let that influence her views of the police. Interestingly, the participants who were concerned about police brutality against Black and other people of color discussed these concerns about police in general, not individual officers perpetrating brutality and racist behavior, yet this did not completely shape their views of the police. Together, these statements highlight the unique influence of the media regarding the police in general, as well as the lived experiences of interacting with the police as a person with a marginalized identity.

Views of the Police as a Culmination of Experiences

Five participants discussed having positive views of the police despite negative experiences with the detectives investigating their sexual violence cases. Positive statements were preceded by earlier negative views and experiences, suggesting that views of the police are not static but evolving based on cumulative interactions. The views expressed by these participants suggest that they do not base their views of the police on one experience of reporting sexual assault, rather they consider all their interactions with the police.

Views of the police as a culmination of experiences was expressed by several participants. For example, Amber discussed feeling mistreated by the detectives. When asked about her views of the police, she talked about working for a behavioral health agency that requires her to interact with the police on a semi-regular basis. The positive experiences she had with officers in her professional life overshadowed the negative experience she had with the detectives when she reported sexual assault. Similarly, Ron discussed his ongoing negative interactions with the police and detectives following a sexual assault that took place when he was a teenager. Since that time, he has had several interactions with the police in his community. He explained that it was a combination of the positive experiences with other officers and the time elapsed since then that helped him to get over his disapproving opinions. He situated his ongoing positive experiences with the police in his neighborhood as a result of him being an active and well-known member of his community, rather than the stereotype of a Black man committing crimes.

Other participants shared that their negative experiences did not completely shape their views of the police. For example, Dianne discussed how she felt the police would respond to another sexual assault survivor despite her negative experience:

I think they [the police] would be sympathetic with a person who had been in a sexual situation. It just happened with me in the one particular time and under those circumstances that it happened like that. – Dianne (woman, Black, age 60+)

Dianne retained confidence that the police would respond positively to other survivors. In some cases, positive views prevailed over their negative experiences with reporting the sexual assault. This shows that negative interactions with detectives do not always lead to negative views of the police but are taken into consideration with other experiences. In these cases, the positive interactions outside of being a sexual assault survivor outweighed the negative interactions that took place during the investigation.

While several participants reflected on their collection of interactions with the police, others considered trust and confidence in the police for sexual assault cases separate from their general views. For Leslie having multiple police experiences did not always translate to favorable views of the police, but rather made her unsure of her feelings:

From my experience [reporting sexual assault], no [I do not have faith in the police]. But it’s hard to answer because I’ve had those interactions that were really positive for me at my job but at the same time, I wasn’t the victim in that situation, I was a mediator so I don’t know how they felt as clients. – Leslie (woman, white, age 18–30)

This is to similar statements shared by Amber, where her personal and professional experiences shaped her overarching views. For Leslie, her personal interactions made her question her professional interactions and how the survivors in those situations felt.

Julia talked about not wanting to share information with the police regarding an incident as a (non-sexual assault) crime survivor. She attributed it to her underlying distrust still present from her negative experience with the police when she reported a sexual assault almost 40 years ago. For her, the mistrust was still there from that earlier negative experience and affected her willingness to cooperate with the police:

I’m not going to fight a police officer but the openness and the trust is just not going to be there. I’m going to give you [the police] the benefit of the doubt but on a personal level that trust has to be earned. – Julia (woman, white, age 60+)

Julia’s experience illustrates that police interactions may carry with a person to shape their long-term views of the police even without realizing it. Similarly, Alexa had multiple negative experiences that contributed to her overall unfavorable view of the police:

I had just terrible experiences with the police outside of that [sexual assault] too. So, I just don’t really have faith in them. – Alexa (woman, white, age 18–30)

Changes in Views of the Police

Some participants (n = 3) talked about a change in their views toward the police following their interactions during the investigation of the sexual assault. For example, Desiree noted her increase in trust following her positive interactions with the detective who worked on her case, suggesting that positive interactions can lead to positive views:

I probably trust them a lot more from going through that. – Desiree (woman, Black, age 18–30)

It is important to note that Desiree is the only participant who shared a completely positive view of the police, and indeed one that improved based on their experiences during their sexual assault investigation. On the other hand, Margaret and Sarah spoke about a clear shift in positive views to less favorable views following their interactions with the police in reporting sexual assault:

I’ve had positive interactions with the police. I haven’t ever thought they were just bad people but after that interaction [with the detective] like I legitimately don’t have any trust in the police department. – Margaret (woman, white, age 18–30)

I think my faith in them has kind of gone down a lot since then [reporting the assault] just because you think that these are people who are here to help you and you’re supposed to trust them, because it’s always ‘just call 911 if there’s a problem’. And then when I finally was like yeah I should do that, it just felt weird not being supported in that way. – Sarah (woman, white, age 18–30)

Margaret shared that she had previous positive interactions with the police but the negative experiences during the sexual assault investigation were the most salient in shaping her views. Sarah’s quotation above brings up the expectations one may have for how the police respond. She discussed that she expected the police to be helpful, but her views were changed when they were not. These three participants’ comments evidence that views of the police are not static.

Limitations

The contributions of this research are contrasted by a few noteworthy limitations. The first limitation concerns the small and homogenous sample for this study. The sample size is of adequate size relative to similar studies (e.g., Patterson, 2011) but due to the size of the sample it cannot be generalized and must be interpreted with caution. This study was not diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender. Over half of participants were white, which may reflect the general rates of reporting sexual assault to the police but may possibly be a result of recruitment bias. Though I employed multiple recruitment methods to reach a diverse population of survivors in a large metropolitan area, almost half (40%) of participants were recruited through sexual assault advocacy agencies, which are generally less frequently visited by people of color compared to white individuals (Campbell et al., 2001). The lack of racial diversity in the sample is important to consider as racial discrimination has historical roots in the U.S. legal system, including police interactions. The sample also had a limited number of men and genderqueer individuals, which needs to be addressed in future research. We are aware that LGBTQ folks have less favorable views of the police in general, though this study was unable to explore this specifically among sexual violence survivors, which needs to be considered in studies building on this work. I recommend an intersectional approach to analyses to amplify the voices of those who have historically been silenced. I acknowledge the retrospective nature of this study and how this may influence views of the police at the time of the interview. Future research should consider these temporal issues and be cognizant that police views are a culmination of personal and vicarious experience when asking questions and interpreting responses. Despite limitations, this study offers new insights into police-community relations that can inform police reform and funding decisions.

Implications for Research, Policy, and Practice

An important takeaway from this study is that police-survivor interactions do matter in shaping views of the police. While the findings show that survivors generally have mixed views of the police, we cannot ignore that most participants had concerning views of the police based on negative interactions during their sexual assault investigation. This study adds to the volume of extant sexual violence literature that showing that police-survivor interactions are frequently negative, or worse, revictimizing (Campbell et al., 2009; Campbell et al., 2011; Konradi, 2007; Lorenz et al., 2019). As such, it is essential to discuss avenues for improving police-survivor interactions, which can subsequently improve views of the police. Procedural justice shows promise as an approach to policing that centers quality interactions to achieve positive outcomes, though further research is needed to examine the effectiveness of this approach specifically among sexual assault survivors (see Lorenz, 2017; Lorenz & Jacobsen, 2021). Efforts to improve the police response such as trauma-informed training practices have gained recent attention, though unfortunately training for officers particularly in sexual assault investigations has proven difficult and often ineffective (Elliott et al., 2012; Lonsway et al., 2001; Lorenz & Maskaly, 2016; Rich, 2018; Stanko & Hohl, 2018). Where training may be ineffective, other efforts such as the Start by Believing campaign and character-based hiring strategies (versus skills-based hiring) have been implemented to initiate cultural changes within policing, as well as emphasis on policing-advocacy partnerships such as Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs) to bridge the gap between the pragmaticism of policing and the need for emotional support, and the use of body-worn cameras to increase police accountability (see EVAWI, n.d.; Greeson & Campbell, 2013; Saulnier et al., 2022). However, these efforts pose challenges as well and there is limited evidence suggesting their effectiveness and improving police-survivor interactions while achieving legal justice. As such, community-based alternatives to policing may need to be considered and have been at the forefront of abolitionist discussions (see Kaba, 2021; Taylor, 2018).

Survivors’ views of the police were often not only based on their sexual assault investigation experience but are shaped by other police interactions which calls into question the landscape of police-community relations which, considering ongoing racialized police misconduct, is questionable at best. Deeper issues that create hostile interactions between detectives and survivors may lie within other aspects of the policing experience, such as discriminatory officers and the policing structure, shaping views of the police. Events of police brutality and sexual misconduct perpetrated by officers provide examples of how discrimination within the police, especially concerning deadly use of force, has created a violent and unhealthy relationships between people of marginalized identities and the police. Consequently, this begs the question as to whether police and the institution of policing are equipped to adequately respond to sexual violence, and whether mixed and negative views of the police are an indication that resources should be reallocated to community-based programs that are viewed as favorable by the communities they serve. These questions are beyond the scope of this study, but findings do point to the necessity of having these conversations and therefore I encourage practitioners, researchers, and activists to continue these discussions with consideration of this study.

Questioning how we can improve police-survivor interactions following sexual assault (and in turn, views of the police) may not be the correct question. Alternatives to our current reporting and investigation practices should be explored. One such proposition is creating indirect reporting options that do not involve direct contact with an officer such as drop boxes, web-reporting, and anonymous reporting which have been suggested in one study consisting of college students at HBCUs (Lindquist et al., 2016). Reinvesting in community programs such as schools, anti-violence organizations, and social work professions can reduce contact with police for those who may want to report but do not have positive views of the police. Involvement of community programs may reduce negative experiences with the police by removing the burden on survivors to self-advocate during the investigation (Campbell, 2006). However, building solutions we must also consider the cultural needs of communities and acknowledge that advocacy services have historically been underutilized by communities of color (Campbell et al., 2001). Moving forward, we must consider the experiences of crime survivors and marginalized community members, and their views of the police, in making decisions regarding legal system reform and policing practices.

This study adds to the evidence that survivors of gender-based violence like sexual assault experience the legal system differently than other crime survivors (Alderden & Ullman, 2012; Campbell, 2005, 2006; Campbell et al., 2001; Spohn et al., 2014; Venema et al., 2019) and this contributes to views of the police, including their decision to contact them for assistance and willingness to engage with the investigation process (Lorenz, 2017; Lorenz et al., 2021; Lorenz & Jacobsen, 2021). As such, decisions about police funding and legal system reform should be informed by the communities served, including sexual violence survivors and particularly those of marginalized identities who have a higher risk of mistreatment by the police (Nadal et al., 2015). Though this study was limited in its ability to assess the experiences of and views of the police among survivors of marginalized identities, future researchers must build on this study by doing better to include the voices of survivors who are of marginalized identities to fully assess views of the police and inform our legal system reform and police funding decisions.