Predicting type of sexual assault case closure from victim, suspect, and case characteristics

Relatively little research has examined the impact of victim, suspect and c ase characteristics on the probability of various case closures in regard t o personal crimes requiring police investigation. The present article exami nes the effect of individual and case characteristics (i.e. victim-offender relationship, initially available evidence) on the police unfounding decis ion, and the probability of four other types of case closure (Arrest, Excep tional due to lack of victim cooperation;Exceptional due to lack of "prosec utorial merit", and Open) among a sample of felony sexual assault cases. Us ing data from a large municipal police department's sexual assault investig ative unit, results indicate that the race of the victim and suspect plays no role in determining any of the case outcomes in this sample, while prior relationship does appear to have a strong impact. Variable impacts for ind icators of the strength of evidence, victim's cooperation, and the seriousn ess of the case are also discussed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All righ ts reserved.