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Jailing victim is outrageous |
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Jailing victim is outrageous
By A Times Editorial
Published January 31, 2007
The abuse of authority that caused a Tampa rape victim to be arrested, jailed and allegedly denied emergency medical care is hard, even days later, to believe. The 21-year-old woman reported to police she was raped as she left Saturday's Gasparilla parade. But police arrested and handcuffed her after a check showed she had failed to pay restitution in a four-year-old case. The victim's attorney also said a supervisor at the county jail
refused her a dose of a pregnancy-prevention drug after objecting on religious grounds.
Outrageous is the only word that describes this episode.
The premedical student said she separated from her friends about 1:30 p.m. and was walking north from the parade when a man grabbed and raped her behind a building near the festival. After the assault, she walked to her car and called authorities. After taking her for a medical exam, and while processing the report, police found warrants for her from Sarasota County. Records showed she had failed to pay $4,585 in restitution from a 2003 juvenile case. She was arrested and booked into the county jail about eight hours after she reported the rape.
But her ordeal wasn't over yet. A doctor had given her Plan B, the "morning-after" pill. Yet the victim's attorney said a medical supervisor at the jail denied her the second dose needed for the emergency contraceptive
to work. The Hillsborough Sheriff's Office, which runs the jail, said medical service policies are set by its contractor, Armor Correctional Health. Armor denied wrongdoing Tuesday. The victim was allowed to take her
second dose but only after reporters inquired and more than 24 hours later than recommended, her attorney said.
Tampa police have tried to minimize the mistake as a flaw in department policy. Chief Steve Hogue changed the manual Tuesday, ordering his officers to balance any arrest order against the trauma a victim of violent crime might be suffering at the time. But this was not, as police said, a case where officers needed a "greater degree of discretionary latitude." What officers needed was the judgment to realize that hauling a rape victim to
jail was stupid and wrong. The sergeant in charge also should have known that throwing the victim in jail on a weekend made it harder for her to contest, as she has, the accuracy of the warrant.
Giving officers more discretion is fine if they have enough judgment to use it responsibly. Any front-line supervisor who must consult a manual to apply common sense is not leadership material. We hope the department's change in policy makes officers more sensitive, but the police chief still owes an explanation of what his street-level supervisors were thinking. This arrest is too egregious to sweep away. The sheriff and Armor also need to clarify whether the victim was kept from taking her medication. The suggestion that Armor calls the shots is unacceptable. The sheriff is responsible for what occurs in his jail.
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