BOZEMAN — On Monday morning, a man was seen in Gallatin County Justice Court, accused of raping a woman he met at Bar 9 in downtown Bozeman. The woman told police she had no memory of what happened or being at the bar, raising the question—how safe are the bars downtown?
"It’s not uncommon for us to receive a report from the victim saying that they only had a couple drinks, but they seemed very impaired for the amount that they had to drink," says Detective Captain Dana McNeil.
Anecdotal accounts on Reddit and even Google reviews say that numerous Bozeman patrons believe they have been drugged downtown.
Captain McNeil says, "We have conducted operations downtown where we have put officers undercover to go down there and observe what’s going on. We’ve had people go in and consume alcohol and see whether anything happens; we’ve never had anything confirmed happen."
He says that typical date-rape drugs like Rohypnol, also known as roofies, can metabolize fast—making it difficult to catch if not reported soon enough.
But Captain McNeil adds, "We really don’t have any information that this is a prevalent issue, but it’s always a possibility."
He says it’s important to keep in mind that the number one drug used in sex-related assaults is alcohol.
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), victims and perpetrators are typically both drinking at the time of assault.
The NIH reports that one-half of all sexual assaults are perpetrated by someone who has been drinking alcohol. In fact, they use this to typically justify their behavior.
"And we do see that very prevalent in most of our sex assaults," Says Captain McNeil.
He recommends taking a close friend with you when drinking, and never leaving your drink unattended—as it can be difficult to recognize when someone has been drugged or has had too much to drink.
And if you are concerned about having been drugged, Captain McNeil says, "I really encourage anybody who has that kind of information to step forward and let us know."
