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Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

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Re: Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

#121

Post by AdjustYourWrld »

Brockenstein wrote: post #88
rhizome wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Demographically, Detroit is currently over 80% black, perhaps only coincidentally similar to the proportion of untested rape kits. Perhaps. However, Detroit was ~30% white in 1980, 3x what it is today, and untested rape kits surely fed a perception of intractable crime over the intervening years as white flight killed the city.

Wayne County != Detroit, Detroit might be 80% black, but Wayne County according to what I've read is 40.5% black.

The problem with your line of reasoning is the rapes don't occur across the county at a proportional rate. The vast majority of those rape kits come from Detroit,

Re: Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

#122

Post by volkl48 »

I fully believe that plenty of these were not tested because of bias/incompetence/whatever.

With that said, I'm not sure if the idea of testing them primarily for database purposes was really on the radar in the 80s-90s. Did these national databases even exist in this sort of form then?

------------------

If the answer to that question is no, then a lot of them weren't tested for understandable reasons. You have a lot of cases that fit one of the following:

- The victim has decided it wasn't a rape/they don't want to pursue the case. As with domestic violence charges, there's a whole lot of these cases where the victim decides they no longer want to pursue it. And while the state can sometimes make a domestic violence case without victim cooperation, it's pretty much impossible to do so for a rape case. No one beats the shit out of themselves, so you can sometimes make a DV case stick without assistance from victim testimony/cooperation. People have sex consensually, so you mostly can't.

- There is a case the victim is cooperating with, but the (accused) rapist is known and is not disputing that the intercourse occurred, just if it was consensual. Testing the "rape kit" just proves intercourse, which is not what the trial is hinging on.

Re: Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

#123

Post by cmurf »

vintageseltzer wrote: post #105
orf wrote: post #39

> You're not going to find too many blond-haired, blue eyed white women ... Because their kits are treated differently, their cases are solved. That's just the way it is in this country. If you're a person of color, if you're a different economic class, then your case across the board, across the board, not just sexual assault — they're treated differently. And that's just the truth. People may not want to admit it,…

In America, justice is only available to those who can afford it. If you can't afford months or years of lawyer's fees and don't have the ability to take time away from your job, family and other daily obligations, you're simply out of luck.

It is not quite this dire, there are very competent public prosecutors and defenders. The problem is we accept the wealthy can obtain better and more lawyers, and effectively buy more or better justice as they define it. It's a classist system where justice is treated as a product rather than exclusively as a right.

Re: Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

#125

Post by gumby »

jessaustin wrote: post #62
gumby wrote: post #19

There's so much more money and excitement to be gained in fighting the drug "menace" it's no wonder actual violent crimes were ignored.

Yes it seems odd that no legislator has proposed that the vast sums spent fighting a "Drug War" that can't be won be redirected to more important uses like this. If police could focus on violence only, so many problems we have would simply disappear.

I am pretty sure the fact that the drug "war" can't be won is part of its appeal.

Re: Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

#126

Post by sandworm101 »

Take these numbers with a grain of salt. That a rape kit was performed doesn't mean that a rape actually occurred. Some subset of these would have been from cases where prosecutors/cops determined that whatever happened didn't amount to rape. Evidence is collected before such decisions are made. Then there is another subset of cases where everyone agrees that a rape did occur, but prosecutors nevertheless decide not to prosecute. Sometimes that occurs because the likely perpetrator is already facing other charges. Or sometimes the victim decides not to participate. It is not uncommon for a victim to withdraw, to not want to testify. It's a horrible state of affairs but happens and alters the numbers.

Re: Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

#127

Post by loeg »

loeg wrote: post #15
kelukelugames wrote: post #2

>Over 800 serial rapists, criminals who have struck 10-15 times without being stopped, were identified. 127 convictions have been made this far. The definition of serial rapist is 10+ victims. That's a lot of them in one county. o_O

This is the county that contains Detroit, once the largest city in the US. And still quite large, despite the attrition.

Edit: One of the largest by population — 4th largest from the 1920s-40s.

I believe it also held claim to the largest city by land area. (Not counting metro area — just city limits.)

Re: Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

#128

Post by jknoepfler »

AdjustYourWrld wrote: post #114
toomuchtodo wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unnecessary condescending tone regardless of information delivery attempted if I had to hazard a guess. > The problem with your line of reasoning is the rapes don't occur across the county at a proportional rate. The vast majority of those rape kits come from Detroit @AdjustYourWrld: Educate us! Citations please! We are all here to learn and indulge our curiosity.

Lol, no one is here to educate themselves on a topic like this, following this thread there's one or two lines of reasoning taken by the posters. 1) it's a travesty where people of color are unreservedly denied justice, for no reason other than racism. 2) The vast majority of the untested rape kits came from the failed Detroit crime lab, and are proportionate to the residents, victims and perpetrators of the crime. L…

That has not been my general experience. It has however been my experience that the forum expects a degree of civility from its participants. This remark is, in addition to being generally false, also condescending and fails to advance the discussion. Facts are welcome, insults are not.

Re: Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

#129

Post by loeg »

gumby wrote: post #25
loeg wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the county that contains Detroit, once the largest city in the US. And still quite large, despite the attrition.

> Detroit, once the largest city in the US Not even close. At its peak, in 1950, it had 1.6M to New York's 7.8M. BTW Wikipedia has various "Demographic history of" pages to satisfy your curiosity.

This is nitpicking. The point is, Wayne county has a really really large population — this isn't some random rural county.

Re: Abandoned rape kits identify over 800 serial rapists in one Michigan county

#130

Post by [deleted] »

AdjustYourWrld wrote: post #114
toomuchtodo wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unnecessary condescending tone regardless of information delivery attempted if I had to hazard a guess. > The problem with your line of reasoning is the rapes don't occur across the county at a proportional rate. The vast majority of those rape kits come from Detroit @AdjustYourWrld: Educate us! Citations please! We are all here to learn and indulge our curiosity.

Lol, no one is here to educate themselves on a topic like this, following this thread there's one or two lines of reasoning taken by the posters. 1) it's a travesty where people of color are unreservedly denied justice, for no reason other than racism. 2) The vast majority of the untested rape kits came from the failed Detroit crime lab, and are proportionate to the residents, victims and perpetrators of the crime. L…

[deleted]
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