NCJ Number
122366
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 57 Issue: 3 Dated: (March 1990) Pages: 44-45
Date Published
1990
Length
2 pages
Annotation
Since 1983 the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations has focused on improving investigative techniques to distinguish between false and genuine allegations of rape.
Abstract
The effort began with an analysis of closed cases, which included both false allegations and actual rapes. A database containing more than 1,000 such cases was compared with a similar number of genuine rapes in terms of 33 variables related to the offense, the victim, and the suspect. Findings showed that many false allegations could be classified as either consenting sexual episodes or fabricated episodes. In both types, the allegation almost always posed some kind of problem for the supposed victim, whereas in real rapes the assault was a problem rather than a solution. The resarch is now continuing by means of a comparison of the military cases with the civilian cases from the Kansas City (Mo.) Police Department. In addition, without realizing it, the researchers have constructed what is called an expert system using "fuzzy data." The results of the research effort have suggested that crime information lends itself to far more sophisticated analysis than previously thought possible. Law enforcement agencies should continue to find ways to apply expert systems to improve the ways they perform their traditional tasks.