New York State Police are assigning 12 senior investigators to help campus and local police statewide deal with college date rapes under the state's new consent law. The new victims' unit will also employ nurse examiners as consultants to ensure evidence is properly documented and cases promptly investigated.
The unit was established by the state law requiring uniform protocols meant to prevent and respond to campus sex assaults.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo says they constitute "an epidemic" that schools have been reluctant to even discuss, with crimes apparently committed by a small percentage of repeat predators and victims reluctant and sometimes discouraged from coming forward.
The law extends protocols established at state institutions to private schools, requiring they adopt student codes requiring affirmative consent before sex.
© 2015 AP
