Roberta Hopewell

On November 1, 1990, I was sworn in as a Police Officer with the Riverside Police Department (RPD) in Riverside, California.  I was assigned to patrol for 3 years and then assigned to the Narcotics Division for 2 years.  I was promoted to the rank of Detective in January 1997.  I worked as an investigator in Narcotics and in the vehicle theft task force until February 2004.

In February 2004, I was assigned to the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit with the Riverside Police Department.  I spent the next 12 years in this unit.  I was named Riverside Counties’ Investigator of the Year in 2006 and again in 2012.  In 2012 I was elected President of the California Sexual Assault Association.  During my career, I was a certified Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Instructor for the Advanced Investigators Sexual Assault and Child Abuse 8-hour class at the Riverside County Sheriff’s Academy for several years.  I was also certified by POST as a Child Forensic Interviewer in December 2007.  In September 2013, the Riverside Rape Crisis Center honored me with their Law Enforcement Officer of the Year award.  

During my last year with the Riverside Police Department (2015), I was assigned sexual assault cold cases as well as the inventory and submission of untested Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) examination kits left in RPD’s Property Unit.  During this period, I assisted in applying to the Manhattan DA’s office for a grant to test SART kits.  RPD received a $440,000 Grant in September 2015.   I retired from RPD on Nov. 15, 2015.  In 2016, I was invited to and accepted an invitation by the government of Chile to speak at the government’s symposium as an expert on sexual assault and child abuse.