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Personnel Criteria Every experienced public and private manager will acknowledge that human resources are the most deciding factor in determining the success or failure of their organization. To that end, great care should be taken when assigning personnel to investigate cases that will almost certainly provoke the public’s scrutiny and generate demands for immediate results. Sexual assaults clearly fall within this domain. Incidents of sexual assault are sure to have a lasting impact, not only upon the victim and the community, but upon the public’s perception of the effectiveness of investigating agency as well. One has only to read the headlines when rapes occur:

Police Seek Rapist on Upper East Side (New York Times, October 3, 1996)

Queens Rape Victims Tell of Broken Lives (New York Daily News, July 15, 2000)

East Side Sex Suspect Under Arrest (New York Post, August 16, 2000)

Sexual Attacks in City Schools Are Up Sharply (New York Times, June 3, 2001)

Armed Rapist Strikes on Lower East Side (New York Post, November 9, 1998)

Rape Resists Inroads of City’s War on Crime (New York Daily News, February 23, 1998)

Victim Relives Her Night of Horror Three Years Ago (New York Post, August 31, 1998)

With headlines like these, it is imperative that the investigating agencies assign their best personnel to the task; consequently, the choice of personnel can have an enormous impact, not only upon the successful conclusion of the investigation, but also upon the perceptions that are reached by both the victim and the public, whose view of the dedication and competency of the investigating department can have significant consequence. Adverse reactions can snowball and create public relations nightmares simply because the victims and their supporters felt that the initial responding officers or the investigators were not sensitive enough.