Reference no: EM133495366

Case Scenario:

Lauren Spierer was a 20-year-old college student at Indiana University, located in Bloomington, Indiana. She went missing on June 3, 2011. On this night, she went out drinking with several of her friends; however, her boyfriend did not go out to the bar that evening. Spierer became very intoxicated Several witnesses who were present in the vicinity and the video surveillance footage confirmed her drunken disposition. At approximately 2:27 a.m., she was seen exiting Kilroy's Sports Bar with a friend; however, she left her cell phone and her shoes at the bar. The bar had a sand-covered patio, and many walked around with no shoes on. She was seen with her friend entering her apartment complex. At 2:30 a.m., she was seen going into the Smallwood Plaza apartments, where she lived. A passerby stopped her to ask if she was okay, as it was evident that she is highly inebriated at the time. At 2:48 a.m., she left the apartment and entered an alley; security cameras confirmed that she exited the alley at 2:51 a.m. and proceeded toward an empty lot. Her keys and her purse were found in the alley. She returned with a friend to her apartment, vomiting on the carpet on the way upstairs. Spierer's friend asked her if she would like to sleep over at his apartment that night and she refused, stating that she would like to return to her own apartment. At 3:30 a.m., her friend made a phone call to a mutual friend of theirs to come over and help take care of Spierer, and she went over to see him for about an hour. At 4:30 a.m., she elected to leave his apartment, and no one has seen her since. She was last reported to be walking down the street barefoot, wearing black leggings and a white shirt.

1. Address the needs of your victim in the case scenario. What would the victim need in terms of law enforcement interaction, support, and trust and why?

2. Conduct an online search on behalf of the victim in your case scenario. In your local police department, what resources are readily available to victims who are searching online for assistance in reporting their victimization? Also, do you think that the resources are appropriate, or is there a lack of resources readily available?

3. What are the challenges associated with notification of offender release? For example, should your victim in the case scenario be notified if the offender(s) were to be released from the corrections system? Why or why not? Also, do you think that notification should be mandatory upon offender release?

4. Conduct an online search on behalf of the victim in your case scenario. For your locality, search for victim assistance and advocacy needs. Would the victim in your case scenario benefit from participating in a community-related support group to meet other victims of the same type of victimization? What types of available programs would you suggest to the victim?