Ed. Note – I would assume that a headline about “rape” is probably sufficient, but I’ve been advised to include a “Trigger Warning” anyway.

Allow me to be serious for a moment.

There have been a few developments in the the ongoing scandal over the Saratoga Springs Police Department’s huge mishandling of the September 1 rape investigation. Last Friday, Lucian McCarty wrote a post on his City Desk blog at The Saratogian calling attention to comments made by Public Safety Commissioner Christian Mathiesen, the city official who—along with Police Chief Chris Cole—made the final decision to withhold virtually all information related to the rape for over a month. Mathiesen has repeatedly engaged in shameless victim-blaming in an attempt to skirt responsibility, saying (once again) that “walking alone on a street at that time of night may not be advisable for a woman who is alone.”

Now, I’m all for common sense, but the irony of the Public Safety Commissioner telling the women of Saratoga Springs to take their lives and well-beings into their own hands is just a little too much to bear. The attitude is, essentially, “we can never, ever stop rape, so the only realistic thing to do is place the full burden of responsibility on you.”

Sage wisdom, ladies. You’d better padlock your door and crawl under the bed, because the Saratoga cops are too busy beating the shit out of random strangers in bar fights on Caroline Street to do their jobs and protect you.

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