Immediate Action Drill 2: Safeguard The Victim

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employees are all entitled to SARC and VA services. You should require that the victim receives timely access to comprehensive medical and psychological treatment, including emergency care, unless the victim declines healthcare. Medical examinations and the health and safety of the victim take priority over any CID investigation. If you are speaking with the victim before the VA and the reported incident may have occurred recently, discuss the Sexual Assault Forensic Examination (SAFE) option and ask if the victim would be willing to have a SAFE. Inform the victim that they have the opportunity to consult with a Special Victim’s Counsel
(SVC). Ask if the victim would like to speak to a chaplain, family member, emergency contact, or other support person. Facilitate any requests for support. If the victim and alleged offender work in the same unit, they may have daily interaction. You should consider issuing a military protective order (DD Form 2873) to the alleged offender to minimize contact and safeguard the victim. You may also consider other forms of pretrial restraint against the alleged offender, to included pretrial confinement. Consult with your TC on the forms and consequences of pretrial restraint decisions.
The victim may also request a transfer from the unit. The first commander authorized to transfer the victim, must make a decision within hours (weekends and holidays are not excluded from the hour rule. The presumption is that you will transfer the victim if requested after a credible report. A victim’s request may ONLY be disapproved by the first general officer in the chain of command. That general officer has a further 72 hours to act upon the request. When a victim requests transfer to another installation, the authority to disapprove the request is reserved to the Commander, Human Resources Command. (See Army Regulation 614-200 and Army Directive In some cases, the victim may not want to transfer from the unit. In those cases, consider transferring the alleged offender. Always discuss your options with your TC or judge advocate.
The SARB will also conduct a safety assessment determining the victim’s safety, risk of suicide, and concerns about retaliation. If the victim’s safety is in jeopardy, the installation commander should setup a High-Risk Response Team (HRRT) which will monitor the victim’s safety and develop a plan to manage the situation.
If you are the victim’s immediate commander, dealing with a victim can be complex. You have to be careful not to re-traumatize them with the actions that you take. Work with the SARC, VA, TC or SVC to ensure that any actions you take are truly in the victim’s best interest or are necessary for good order and discipline. For example, the decision to remove the victim from their duties maybe made with the best intentions, however some victims will perceive that act as retaliation and harmful to their career. Victim advocates and SVCs are specially trained and will help you to interact with and safeguard the victim. If the victim elects to have an SVC, call the SVC after discussing with the Trial Counsel and determine the appropriate scope of your interactions with the victim. Understand that the SARC, VA and SVC all have confidentiality and privilege with the victim and so they cannot tell you what the victim has told them unless they are given permission from the victim.

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