PolicyMic.com is once again hosting a LIVE BLOG I will be continuously updating with news regarding the tragic and brutal gang rape and beating of Jyoti Singh Pandey and the spark it ignited for Indian women. Protests and candlelight vigils continue as police violence against protesters calms. The pre-trial hearing was today in Delhi and there were naturally some shocking things happening…(links within the live blog to previous pieces for more in-depth coverage.) I’ll be updating with some first-hand accounts from protesters and journalists in India as well.
The Restless Rani 
The U.S. continues to struggle with the problem of gender violence — but we have made some great improvements from what was to what is today. In the 1970s, as chief of the Madison, Wisc. police department, I made a rule (in consultation with community groups) that our new women police officers and detectives would be assigned to ALL sexual assault investigations. It made a big difference. Later the women came to me and said that it was all right to permit the men they worked with to handle these cases — they trusted them. But we still continued the rule that a woman who was a victim could always ask for a female officer or investigator to do the initial investigation. For more, follow my blog at http://improvingpolice.wordpress.com. And remember: policing in a democracy is best accomplished by those who are well-trained and led, controlled in their use of force, honest, courteous to every person, and closely in touch with the communities they serve. I also have a new book out, “Arrested Development: A Veteran Police Chief Sounds Off About Protest, Racism, Corruption and the Seven Steps Necessary to Improve Our Nation’s Police” (Amazon.com in US and EU). ” It gives the background for all of this and the steps necessary to move forward.
While we continue to struggle with the problem of gender violence, we have come a long way. It all started in the 1970s, mainly because women started to speak out. As chief of the Madison, Wisc. police department, and after consulting with various community groups, I made a rule that our new women police officers and detectives would be assigned to all primary sexual assault investigations. It made a big difference. Years later, the women police officers came to me and said that it was all right to permit the men they worked with be the primary responder — they now trusted them to do a competent and sensitive job. But we still had the rule that any woman who was a victim could always ask for a female officer as the first responder. For more, follow my blog at http://improvingpolice.wordpress.com. And remember: policing in any democracy must be performed by those who are well-trained and led, controlled in their use of force, honest, courteous to every person, and closely in touch with the communities they serve. I also have a new book out, “Arrested Development: A Veteran Police Chief Sounds Off About Protest, Racism, Corruption and the Seven Steps Necessary to Improve Our Nation’s Police” (Amazon.com in US and EU) where I outline the steps that I took to significantly improve the Madison Police Department. That improvement has been now sustained for almost two decades.