Police sexual assault investigation training, impulsivity, and officer intentions to arrest and use procedural justice: a randomized experiment

Abstract

Objectives Examine the effect of a 40-h police sexual assault training and individual-level impulsivity on officers’ intention to make an arrest and the importance placed on using procedural justice when interacting with victims.

Methods Training courses were randomly assigned to the treatment and control groups. Vignettes depicting sexual assault reports were randomly assigned to participants (N=318) in each group. Vignette manipulations were randomized by victim-offender relationship (stranger/non-stranger) and rape myth acceptance (present/not present/ambiguous).

Results Training increased officers’ intentions to arrest. Training and lower impulsivity increased the importance officers placed on using procedural justice. Vignette manipulations were not significantly correlated with either outcome. Impulsivity did not moderate—or change—training effects.

Conclusions Sexual assault training can increase officers’ self-reported intentions to arrest and the perceived importance placed on using procedural justice in interactions with victims. This finding is important as prior research demonstrated that using procedural justice principles can improve victim engagement with investigators.