SART preps for local launch

PALMER — If all goes according to plan, the Valley’s Sexual Assault Response Team should be up and running by the start of 2014.

Talking to people working to make the team a reality, it’s clear they’d like to see it fall into place sooner rather than later.

Victims of sexual assault now have to go to Anchorage for medical exams to collect evidence. It’s a long drive to Anchorage that provides a lot of time to talk oneself out of participating — especially knowing that on the other end of that drive is a long medical process and a long conversation with a stranger about a very recent trauma. Not to mention the ensuing long-running court process.

“It’s easy to see how people are going to change their minds,” said Assistant District Attorney Trina Sears with the Palmer District Attorney’s Office.

“It’s just less of a headache to bite your tongue and go away,” Wasilla Police Chief Gene Belden said.

He said he believes a lot of cases die because of how difficult a process it is to deal with victims of sexual assault, and his colleagues in Palmer agree.

“I’ve had victims opt out of a SART exam because it’s an hour,” said Detective Sgt. Shayne LaCroix with the Palmer Police Department.

And what does that mean for the cases? If a woman doesn’t want to participate in the evidence-gathering process, can you make a case against her attacker? Theoretically you could, but it would be a very weak case. In practice, Sears, who handles a lot of these cases, couldn’t come up with an example of that happening in Palmer.

“Typically, we need cooperation from victims to do these cases,” Sears said.

The Valley once upon a time had a SART nurse at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, but that program quietly fell apart.

Emily Stevens, chief nursing officer for Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, said that program was kind of crushed under its own weight.

“You had one person who was forensics trained,” she said. And when that person inevitably got burned out, “the system itself then became burnt out.”

The approach

The new plan, paid for with money from the state, Mat-Su Borough and city of Wasilla and administered through Alaska Family Services, is a team approach.

Stevens said Mat-Su Regional has already hired a SART nursing coordinator with experience in Anchorage’s program.

It has also is on the verge of securing a clinic space. Stevens said that part was difficult. The SART team wanted a space with a private entrance and private elevator. She said the first time she saw a victim sitting with an officer in a crowded emergency room she knew the value of those privacy protections.

It also needed a private shower and bathroom and to be close to Mat-Su Regional’s emergency room.

Stevens said she thinks they’ve found a spot that actually meets all those requirements. The idea will be to station the program manager there. She’ll be in charge of managing a roster of nurses trained in SART and the clinic will be available 24 hours a day.

The process

The first person called in when a rape is reported is whatever cop is closest.

Next, though, it’s someone like LaCroix, a detective trained in interview techniques. It’s also someone like Ariel Herman, who is an advocate for Alaska Family Services.

“Our role is really just to be there to support the person going through the process,” she said.

The victim, advocate and detective then go to the clinic where the exam is conducted. At the same time, the detective is interviewing the victim. The idea is to minimize the number of times the victim has to repeat the story.

Even without that drive to Anchorage it can be a long process. Herman said that in her experience, these interviews lasted anywhere from four to six hours.

And once it’s done, she’s still assigned to the case, doing follow up with the victim, connecting him or her with social services, treatment and other help.

“We make sure they’re able to push through whatever systems they choose to access,” she said.

The training

Nearly everyone who spoke about the program talked about training. And a lot of them went to a training session held at Mat-Su College in August. Belden said he’s sending two more officers to a November training.

All of the law enforcement groups — Wasilla and Palmer police and Alaska State Troopers — have specially trained detectives. Belden said it’s crucial to also train the first-responding patrol officer, and sometimes that can be tough training to handle.

“I’ve got some guys they’d rather run through that wall than talk to you about being sexually molested,” he said.

He’s working to change that, because even though those officers are only involved right at the start, their role is crucial.

“The whole case can fall apart in the first five minutes,” he said.

The future

Just last week, headlines in Anchorage announced that as of Oct. 1, Providence Alaska Medical Center would not be doing SART exams during its overnight hours.

Stevens said it is discouraging news.

“That was our biggest dream, was to be like Anchorage’s program,” she said.

LaCroix said it’s already had implications for his work. He had to send a victim who came to him late at night home after talking to her because he couldn’t schedule anything until 7 a.m. the next morning.

“It turned into an issue of locating her after that,” he said.

But the team is moving ahead and plans 24/7 response to sexual assault in the Mat-Su. Belden said he thinks the Valley is going to discover it has a woefully underreported rate of sexual assault.

“I think it will be slow to start with,” he said. “And then it’s going to open the floodgates.”

Asked if she was ready to handle that workload, Sears said she believes the state of Alaska is. The governor, she pointed out, has made combating domestic violence and sexual abuse a priority.

“I’m confident that the Department of Law will make resources available,” she said. “It’s a priority and it will get done.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.