Arizona urges law enforcement to avoid program that prejudges people accused of rape

Article here. Excerpt:

'Last year, Arizona State University’s campus police force was the first in the state to support the “Start by Believing” campaign, in which law enforcement pledges to uncritically accept any allegation made by a rape accuser to facilitate more reports.

Republican Gov. Doug Ducey’s administration doesn’t want others to follow ASU’s lead, however.

The Phoenix New Times reports that Youth, Faith and Family Director Debbie Moak asked prosecutors to stay clear of the nationwide nonprofit Start by Believing campaign in a letter last month.

What’s wrong with the program? It could ruin their rape investigations even if they run them by the book, says Moak, relaying the findings of a workgroup that studied the program:

`Over the past few months, however, critics have lobbied against the program, claiming that it can create “confirmation bias” — a concept in which investigators go into a case with a pre-existing belief, resulting in an ensuing investigation that’s likely to confirm that belief — and that a suspect’s defense lawyer could undermine a prosecution by injecting the possibility that confirmation bias was at work.

“The concern is that the interjection of ‘belief’ into the law enforcement investigation creates the possibility of real or perceived confirmation bias,” Moak writes. “While investigations and interviews with victims should always be done in a respectful and trauma-informed manner, law enforcement agencies, and other agencies co-located in advocacy centers, are strongly cautioned against adopting Start by Believing.”`'