Who:
Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton

What:
2nd Annual Chief's Conference on Sexual Assault Crimes

When:
Wednesday, January 12, 2005 at 8:00 a.m. (opening remarks) Conference from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Where:
Shutters Hotel, One Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica

Los Angeles: The Los Angeles Police Department is co-hosting the 2nd Annual Chief's Conference on Sexual Assault Crimes with the Rape Treatment Center of Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center. This is a partnership to address the serious issue of child sexual abuse by providing law enforcement investigators with training on interviewing young children who are alleged victims of abuse.

Chief Bratton will provide the opening remarks for the conference. His sponsorship and support on this issue is unprecedented for an LAPD chief of police. The keynote speaker at the conference will be Tom Lyon, a USC law professor, psychologist, and expert on interviewing children.

The goal of the conference is to train detectives on effective interviewing techniques with young children. Research has shown that the method used to interview a child is probably the single, most important aspect of an abuse investigation. National studies on rape victimization show over half of the victims are under 18 years of age. Youths twelve to seventeen are 2-3 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than adults.

This news advisory was prepared by Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations Section, at 213-485-3586.