Reporting Sex Offenses

Sex offenses may be reported to the University of Memphis Department of Police Services (678-4357 / 678-HELP), the Memphis Sexual Assault Resource Center (528-2161), either the Memphis Police Department (528-2222) or Shelby County Sheriff Department (577-5555). Emergency only - dial 911.

Report the offense as soon as you are in a safe place. (If you report the offense you are not committed to prosecute. However, if you do not report it and protect the physical evidence, it will be much more difficult should you decide later you wish to prosecute the offender so that this crime does not happen to other members of the University community.) Should you choose to not report the incident to any police agency you should report to a medical facility for care and testing and you should contact a psychological counseling service for care.

To protect the evidence do not disturb anything in the area where the offense occurred. Do not wash or change clothes. (If you feel you must change clothes place them carefully in a paper bag and give them to the investigators.) Evidence may consist of the offender's hair or body fluids; and any article of clothing; cuts or abrasions on your body; any article handled by the offender; witnesses; and your memories of everything that happened. Evidence can sometimes be obtained from cigarette butts the offender left. In effect, do not touch, move, or destroy anything in the area where the offense happened.