New York State Police Form Special Campus Rape Unit

New York State Police are building a specialized campus rape unit consisting of ”experienced senior investigators” who will handle reports of sexual assault on university campuses, said Beau Duffy, a spokesman for the department.

The new “State Police Sexual Assault Victims Unit” will serve as a kind of enforcement arm of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new campus rape law, called Enough Is Enough.

Although the law passed earlier this summer, it officially goes into effect this week — the first week of school for many universities.

The 29-page legislation gives New York colleges precise instructions for handling on-campus rape allegations and creating a safer environment for students to come forward.

As of Sept. 1, school codes must include a verbatim “Students’ Bill of Rights” provided by the state government, as well as a detailed definition of “affirmative consent.” (In short, all involved parties must say ’Yes’ before sex can begin.)

Cuomo held a big, flashy press conference at NYU late Wednesday morning, alongside fellow lawmakers and law enforcement officials, to commemorate the law’s first day in effect.

“It’s time to change the culture and change the mindset and change the paradigm,” Cuomo said at the presser. (After a somewhat rambling speech about his own three daughters and their back-to-school rituals.)

“This is not a violation of school policy or school code. It’s something far, far worse,” Cuomo said. ”It is a crime. ... I don’t care what the school thinks about it. I don’t care what an administrative panel thinks about it. I care what a jury thinks about it, and a judge.”

“We have to change the mindset of this is a matter for school authorities to handle,” he added.

To that effect, Cuomo unveiled a brand-new New York State Police unit that will handle sexual assault on campus.

He said investigators in the “specialized unit” will respond to reports of rape, comfort rape victims and “preserve the evidence to prosecute these matters as crimes.”

Police spokesman Duffy clarified that because of “jurisdictional issues,” the unit won’t focus on initial response. Instead, its main duty will be to ”work very closely with colleges and universities, and also local police, to provide training and forensic support services.”

Columbia University student Emma Sulkowicz became the face of lagging campus rape policy in the U.S. earlier this year, when she began carrying a mattress wherever she went on campus — a protest against Columbia‘s refusal to expel her alleged rapist.

Update: Here are the full specs on the State Police Sexual Assault Victims Unit, courtesy of Gov. Cuomo’s Office.

The State Police Sexual Assault Victims Unit consists of Senior Investigators assigned to all Troops statewide who will work closely with advocates, students, sexual assault survivors, colleges, universities and local police. Senior Investigators assigned to the unit will visit each college or university in their Troop, creating a dialogue with the school administration, campus police and student groups to help evaluate specific needs.

They will utilize Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners as consultants to help ensure that evidence is properly documented and handled, and the unit will also work with local rape crisis centers that provide services and resources to victims. The New York State Police will also maintain its dedicated phone line for reporting sexual assaults on college and university campuses: 1-844-845-7269.

The unit will assist with campus crimes of sexual violence that are reported to the State Police and will provide law enforcement support to college and university police, as well as local police departments, on their investigations of campus sexual assault cases. In addition, the unit will develop and conduct training for local and campus police departments as well as campus communities, with a focus on the skills and techniques that are required when first responding to a reported sexual assault.

“By creating this new unit, we will strengthen relationships with campus communities and provide dedicated resources with the goal of bringing justice to students who are victimized,” New York State Police Superintendent Joseph A. D’Amico said in a statement. “We want victims to know that they are not alone. The State Police and our local law enforcement partners are here to help.”

The new law supporting Governor Cuomo’s Enough is Enough initiative requires all colleges to adopt a set of comprehensive procedures and guidelines, including a uniform definition of affirmative consent, a statewide amnesty policy, and expanded access to law enforcement to ensure the safety of all students attending colleges in New York State.

Because the law is the first of its kind in the nation, raising awareness is critically important to ensuring the public fully understands its policies. This awareness tour complements reach-out efforts by senior members of the Governor’s administration during the “Enough is Enough” campaign this spring, which brought dozens of listening sessions, roundtable discussions and rallies to colleges and universities across New York. More information about the Governor’s Enough is Enough initiative is available here.