Ms.

The manner in which police respond to sexual assault survivors warrants further attention given increasingly negative attention for sexual assault case attrition. Shortcomings surrounding police responses to sexual assault survivors may, in part, be the result of rape myth endorsement. The current study utilized a purposive sample of 523 self-report, paper-and-pencil surveys administered to commissioned police officers at one of the fifth largest U.S. cities. The objective of the study was to assess to what degree police personnel adhered to rape myths and whether officer sex, educational attainment, years of service, prior specialized sexual assault training, and the number of sexual assault calls responded to in the previous 12 months influenced their endorsement of rape myths. In addition, this study examined police officer preparedness in responding to sexual assault calls for service, while accounting for officer sex, rape myth endorsement, and prior specialized sexual assault training. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are discussed