Russell's victory: Campus crime bill becomes law
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After her daughter reported being raped in 2004 at UVA and prosecutors declined to press charges, Susan Russell founded www.uvavictimsof rape.com and spearheaded a newly passed bill that requires campus police to collaborate with local authorities.File photo by Courteney Stuart
After several years spent fighting to change the way the most serious crimes on college campuses are investigated, activist Susan Russell will at last see part of her wish fulfilled as a watered-down version of the bill inspired by her daughter's alleged rape at the University of Virginia has unanimously passed both the Virginia House and Senate.
"We are very glad to see some change has come from our efforts," says Russell, who became an advocate for campus safety after her daughter, Kathryn, reported being raped in 2004 by a fellow UVA student who was never charged with any crime, even after a second alleged victim came forward.
Russell and others impacted by crime at UVA, including sexual assault victim Liz Seccuro and the parents of slain Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, assert that campus police departments are not best equipped to handle murder and rape investigations and had urged that municipal law enforcement agencies take the lead in such cases.
Campus police departments including UVA's objected to the original wording of the bill, claiming their officers receive special training in sexual assault cases and are as effective as local authorities in investigating. After review by the Virginia Crime Commission late last year, the law (first known as HB2490 but approved as HB965) was softened to require only that when investigating campus rape and murder cases, university police enter into "mutual aid agreements" with local law enforcement.
So how does this sit with UVA Police— who have borne some stigma from allegedly mishandling the 1986 case of possible murder victim Pat Collins?
"I don't have a response either way," says UVA Police spokesperson Melissa Fielding. "We'll act within the law and continue to treat every case with the highest level of professionalism."
With approval from both senate and house, the bill will become law once Governor Bob McDonnell signs it.
3 comments
A slow step but at least a step in the right direction. The frustrating part? This should of been done a long time ago. The bad part? People have to become victims over and over before our elected officials do the right thing. Its no wonder Va rates a big fat F.
How much does this law really change? Seems like entering into "mutual aid agreements" with local law enforcement is pretty vague.
Rape in this country isn't taken as seriously as it should be. Often predators who murder girls could have been stopped long before they killed anybody, if their earlier rapes and stalking had been taken seriously.
Also, is Bob McDonnell actually going to sign this thing? He seemed so eager to sign the anti-abortion ultrasound bill, but I see no news reporting that he's actually lifted a finger for this legislation yet.
Was this bill ever signed? I just did a search on it and wasn't able to find anything verifying that it was.
Police in general need to take crimes against women more seriously. I've heard too many remarks where people are more concerned for the predator than his victim, as if ruining his career is worse than letting him rape again, or allowing him to work his way up to murder.
It's obvious that at least one of the men in the Harrington case already had a history, and I suspect that at least of his accomplices had a long history of predation, too. The earlier people like that are off the streets, the better for us all.