CAMBRIDGE POLICE DEPARTMENT

1996 ANNUAL REPORT

RAPE

Forcible Rape as defined by the Uniform Crime Reporting Program is the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will. Assaults or attempts to commit rape by force or threat of force are also included; however, statutory rape (without force) and other sex offenses are excluded.

The Cambridge Police Department's Investigations Section reports that 34 rapes and assaults with intent to rape were recorded in Cambridge in 1996. This represents a single incident, or 3 percent, decrease from 1995. Of the 34 cases of rape or attempted rape, seven were classified as stranger to stranger confrontations. Four of these incidents involved street abductions while the other three were apartment invasions.

Over the past 15 years, the city of Cambridge has averaged eight rapes for every quarter of the year. In the first quarter of 1996, this average was surpassed when 12 cases were reported to the Cambridge Police. Of this figure, ten cases were cleared by the identification of the perpetrators; the remaining two are still under investigation. The second quarter brought an additional 10 rapes, of which all but two were cleared.

During the third quarter of 1996, there were seven rapes and two attempted rapes. Two cases of home invasions in East Cambridge and Riverside heightened resident concerns. Both incidents involved a stranger gaining entrance to a residence. Criminal investigators ruled the cases unrelated due to disparate suspect descriptions. In the other seven incidents during the third quarter, one suspect was a relative, another a boyfriend, and the other five acquaintances-three of whom met their victims in bars.

During the fourth quarter of 1996, there were three rapes, with each involving either an acquaintance or family member.

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