Audit: Half Of Discarded Rape Claims Misclassified

12-2-2010 Maryland:

BALTIMORE -- An audit shows more than half of nearly 100 rape reports that Baltimore police deemed false or baseless have been reclassified as rapes or other sex crimes.

The audit was presented Wednesday to a City Council panel. The findings come from a review prompted by The Baltimore Sun that exposed problems in the way police handled sex offense investigations.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake asked the panel in June to evaluate recent reports of rape and sexual crimes. It reviewed 98 rape investigations classified as unfounded between January 2009 and August 2010, and found 52 should be considered rapes or other sex crimes.

Those cases and others will get a fresh look from new detectives. ..Source.. by WBAL TV