Police officers’ familiarity with resources available for sexual assault survivors

Purpose According to the United States Department of Justice (2022), sexual assault survivors should be provided with service referrals and connected with resources when reporting to police. However, to be able to adequately refer these resources, officers must be familiar with the services available to survivors in their jurisdiction. Therefore, the current study assesses officer familiarity with resources available for sexual assault survivors across multiple jurisdictions. Design/methodology/approach Using survey data from 378 officers in Kentucky, we conducted an exploratory study to assess the relationship between officers’ demographic characteristics, jurisdiction type and experience, and their familiarity with victim services, victim advocates and SANEs. Findings Overall, roughly half of the officers were familiar with each type of resource. Additionally, some officer characteristics – gender, jurisdiction type, prior sexual assault training and number of sexual assault reports responded to – were significantly correlated with familiarity of resources. Results indicate that (1) non-urban areas may benefit from enhanced efforts to bring training to smaller jurisdictions, (2) officers should become aware of resources earlier in their careers, (3) efforts should consider increasing mandatory training and (4) police departments and local service providers should prioritize multi-disciplinary collaboration. Originality/value The current study expands the research regarding levels of knowledge or familiarity about resources for sexual assault survivors among police officers across different jurisdictions.