Ithaca city council calls on Cornell to report sexual assault investigations to local police

ITHACA, N.Y. — The city of Ithaca called on the Cornell University Police Department to turn over sex and violent crime investigations to the Ithaca Police Department, after the city council voted nearly unanimously in favor of the measure. The decision late Wednesday came as a gang-rape allegation by a former Cornell student took the campus and nation by storm last month.

The Cornell University Police Department has said it did not refer its investigation of the 2024 allegation to the Ithaca Police Department. The former student, known as Jane Doe, filed a civil lawsuit last month detailing the allegations and what she said was a lack of appropriate response by the university and its police department.

The Ithaca Common Council also voted Wednesday to temporarily suspend affiliated student organizations at the university, such as fraternities, from new assemblies, parades and special events “due to public safety concerns.” The moratorium on events would expire on Nov. 5, unless the council were to take further action, according to a meeting agenda.

The resolution passed by a vote of 9-1. The council did not say how the measure would be enforced or what would happen if the university did not comply. Cornell…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business