"Authorities will continue DNA testing in their hunt for a serial rapist, but on Friday they began using stricter guidelines for deciding who gets tested, Charlottesville’s police chief announced.

Seeking to assuage increasing concerns that police were practicing racial profiling, Chief Timothy J. Longo suspended DNA testing this week and met Friday morning with concerned black leaders and local officials to discuss his plans.

Among other things, the new policy ends the practice of testing black men simply because of a reported resemblance to a composite drawing of the rapist. Further, it lays out a process by which an officer and then a detective would consider other factors before a potential suspect is approached.

As recently as Monday, during a forum at the University of Virginia, Longo had firmly defended the practice used for more than a year, saying it was legal and that aggressive measures were necessary to catch a rapist who has attacked at least six women since 1997.

On Friday, he stressed that the new guidelines would not impede the investigation. “If I thought for a minute that I was doing anything to jeopardize the safety of this community … I would be rethinking this strategy,” he said.

Under the new policy, an officer responding to a report that a man looks like the rapist would consider whether he fits the description and is acting suspiciously before asking for DNA.

If the officer decides to approach someone, he will ask for an ID and fill out a “field contact card” containing the man’s personal information and other details.

Investigators would review the contact card and consider several factors, such as whether the man was seen in or lives in the UVa area, where most of the attacks have occurred. Detectives also would run a background check to see if the man has a history of offenses against women.

If the detectives decide to proceed, they must now inform the man that he may refuse to give a saliva sample.

Longo also said none of the negative test results would become part of a DNA database. Anyone who wants their results back may have them, though he must contact the chief’s office by May 16 before the samples are destroyed.

Longo’s announcement came after a closed meeting at Mount Zion Baptist Church with about 10 community leaders and others. Most of those leaving the roughly two-hour meeting said they were supportive of the new policy.

One of Longo’s biggest critics in recent weeks, M. Rick Turner, dean of UVa’s Office of African-American Affairs, said the meeting went far better than he had expected.

“I commend Chief Longo and his staff for coming up with such a respectful process but still doing police work,” he said. “I was concerned initially because we’ve had back-to-back … racial incidents at the university, and this could disrupt the community.”

He was referring to a race-based attack reported last year by Daisy Lundy, who was running for UVa Student Council president, and a 2002 incident in which three white students dressed in blackface at a Halloween party.

Raymond Mason, who also attended the meeting at Mount Zion, said Longo’s new system represents progress but doesn’t go far enough. He said one of his friends consented to a DNA test and was cleared of wrongdoing.

Mason argued that once someone has refused the test, detectives should leave him alone. Longo said an investigator might make a second attempt, but not a third.

The department has requested DNA samples from 197 men, and 10 refused the tests. Among those tested, at least one was Hispanic, and detectives are seeking another Hispanic man to request a sample.

Victims’ descriptions of the rapist have varied, but he generally is described as a black man in his 20s or 30s who is about 6 feet tall and has an athletic build.

The serial rapist’s last confirmed attack was last April when a 25-year-old woman was sexually assaulted in an apartment off Jefferson Park Avenue. Even though nearly a year has passed, Longo said no one should assume the rapist is gone.

“I’d rather consider the possibility,” Longo said, “that he’s still out there among you.”" (Reed Williams, The Daily Progress, April 16, 2004)

Contact Reed Williams at (434) 978-7263 or fwilliams@dailyprogress.com.