I wouldn't be surprised if they just suppressed other deaths by moving them off campus in the past.
There a several videos online that show how their staff manipulates and shields people from getting in contact with law enforcement.
There a several videos online that show how their staff manipulates and shields people from getting in contact with law enforcement.
I work extensively with Emergency Services Department (ESD), Pershing and Washoe Law Enforcement (LE), Rangers, Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT), Survivor Advocacy Teams (SAT), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and all the other groups. I have personally worked multiple sexual assault (SA) calls out there.
First off, the vast majority of LE officers are fantastic to work with.
To the point of the video: The officer is grossly violating/bypassing protocol. Sexual Assault (SA) is an incredibly specific legal protocol that is developed by Law Enforcement and followed by Rangers, ESD, and CIT/SAT teams. The protocol is publicly available on the Burning Man website. A few things here that you wouldn't know unless you work these calls:
1. LE appears to have shown up unannounced, at least from the perspective of the staff handling the call. This is extremely unusual, as usually ESD/Rangers/CIT/SAT confirm that the SA is one that necessitates LE involvement, and then radio for LE. While ALL SA reports, regardless of severity, will activate the protocol, not all SA reports escalate to police involvement. You can make things far worse for the survivor by unnecessarily bringing LE in, or bringing them in before the survivor is mentally ready to talk to LE.
2. When the protocol does involve LE, normally they go and interface with ESD, Rangers, and CIT/SAT to get an understanding of the situation before engaging with the survivor. All 3 groups keep extremely meticulous notes. I couldn't find any point in the video where the officer actually does this, she just keeps insisting to talk to the survivors.
3. LE works with CIT/SAT teams in the real world, they aren't a Burning Man exclusive thing. CIT/SAT teams vastly improve the outcomes of these cases. The officer saying "CIT/SAT teams usually try to convince the victim to not talk to us" is disturbingly false and incredibly antagonistic. CIT/SAT teams do the exact opposite: they advocate for the survivor, inform them of their rights, explain what the survivor is legally required to do (which includes talking to LE), and support the survivor in their decisions.
3a. If CIT/SAT teams seriously wanted "to convince the victim to not talk to LE", they could tell the victim to run or bike away. Note how all the volunteer groups (ESD, Rangers, CIT/SAT, etc.) are standing by and making sure the victim stays put. They are following the protocol, and they are making sure the survivor talks to LE.
4. Unsurprisingly, most survivors do not want to talk to Law Enforcement. CIT/SAT teams explicitly do not persuade in one way or another. If the survivor says "I don't want to talk to law enforcement", the CIT/SAT team will reply "If you don't want that all you need to do is tell the officer 'I don't want to speak to LE' or 'I don't want to file a report' and they will leave."
5. The officer doesn't respect 4, and is actually harassing the survivor. The officer needs to be told 3 times by the survivor that she doesn't want to speak with them. This is awful. The survivor just had someone violate them, do you really think she wants to engage with an authority figure who won't take no for an answer?
6. The officer says "I had a friend go through CIT/SAT training and she came out and said they tell survivors not to talk to law enforcement". I've been through the CIT/SAT training and know a number of people who have gone through it. I've never seen a module or a part of the training that says "Convince the survivor to not talk to LE." Quite the opposite, the training is about how to get the survivor to feel safe enough speak up, with the intent of finding and removing predators.
To the point of "staff manipulates and shields people from getting in contact with law enforcement" they absolutely do not, and this is incredibly illegal to do anyway. Any video you watch suggesting otherwise is sensationalist and incorrect.
Sure, Jan.
You clearly know all the right stuff for this kind of situation, but the fact of the matter is that cops either do not know or do not care. The few cops who stick to all of the guidelines you have laid out are rarer than shiny Pokemon, and they usually burn out and retire early rather than continue to work with a department full of bastards.
Default world US cops? Absolutely suck. Don't talk to cops.
At Burning Man? Law enforcement is more often than not, decent. BM is the only place in the US where I've ever had actually decent interactions with them, and the only place where I refer to them as LE or LEO (Law Enforcement Officer/Official) than cops.
> the fact of the matter is that cops either do not know or do not care.
LE out at Burning Man are exposed to an insane amount of oversight and accountability. Burning Man volunteer orgs (Rangers, ESD, etc.) have a 'culture of feedback'. LE Officers are required to take part in this culture. The official website even has an official feedback form for Law Enforcement (https://survival.burningman.org/law-enforcement/law-enforcem...). The feedback is taken very seriously, and is discussed and reviewed daily by the different departments. BMOrg, their lawyers, and Lawyers for Burners can make that officer's life a living hell. BM Police are forced to care.
There's also a number of community-driven layers for handling issues before LE gets involved, and the vast majority get resolved without LE. Rangers receive more de-escalation and conflict mediation than police academy recruits: 8 hours for LE, compared to 18-22 hours for new rangers and 12-16 hours annually thereafter. If things get physical, you have a private group called High Rock Security that are another layer before Law Enforcement. As a result, Law Enforcement is only requested if it's absolutely legally required, usually if an arrest must be made.
LE are out there enjoying the event just like everyone else. They don't want to do their job. Don't give them a reason to do their job.