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Tempe Cops - Don't blame us for the increase in rapes!
Of course when crime drops they take credit for that!
Tempe residents reporting far more sexual assaults by Megan Boehnke - Mar. 15, 2010 05:11 PM The Arizona Republic Reports of sexual assaults nearly doubled last year in Tempe, but police say it's likely because of an increase in reporting rather than an increase in crimes. "One thing we've done in the past year and a half and try to empower people to come forward and remove the stigma of sex assault victims," said Sgt. Steve Carbajal, a Tempe Police spokesman. "People are coming forward now because we're asking them to come forward." [Yea sure! You asked people to report rapes and magically twice as many people report being raped! Yea sure!] Reported rapes jumped from 34 in 2008 to 64 in 2009. Sex assaults have long been counted among the most underreported crimes in the country, with about 41 percent of rape victims reporting the crime to police, according to a 2007 study by the U.S. Department of Justice. Carbajal said there is no way to know for sure whether the rise in sexual assaults is solely because of increased reporting, or if there are other factors. "We're not trying to hide from (the increase in reports), but our main goal is to make sure people have the tools they need to keep themselves safe," he said. The department has already kicked off another awareness campaign that will run through the end of April, encouraging people to be more careful at the time of year when sexual assaults traditionally spike, he said. Officers have, in the last year and a half, been vigilant about handing out fliers to students and residents, hanging posters and distributing material on public transportation. Last year's high-profile rape of a woman on Mill Avenue who was pulled behind a building and attacked by a stranger also brought attention to the issue, even if a stranger rape is the most uncommon of circumstances, Carbajal said. In 64 percent of last year's attacks, the victim knew his or her attacker, and in more than 40 percent of the cases, alcohol was involved, according to department statistics. Most victims were between 18 and 23 years old.
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