Cleveland Rape Crisis Center sees surge of victims seeking help, credits collaboration with detectives
January 22, 2011
By Leila Atassi, The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The number of sexual assault victims seeking help from the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center has surged since October, when a victim advocate began working full-time within the police department's Sex Crimes Unit, collaborating with detectives and making sure victims' needs are met.
The Rape Crisis Center reports that 61 clients, whose cases were routed to the agency by way of the embedded advocate, have participated in the center's crisis intervention programs in the past three months.
Previously, clients would have to call the agency on their own. And many victims, without an advocate's support, would lose the strength to continue assisting detectives or prosecutors. Cases frequently are closed when detectives deem victims "uncooperative."
Megan O'Bryan, the president and chief executive of the center, said she hopes that providing a sense of comfort for victims while they interact with the criminal justice system will encourage their cooperation and bring more rapists to justice.
"The advocate is following up with every victim to ensure they don't fall through the cracks," O'Bryan said. "Just the immediate presence of an advocate, working shoulder-to-shoulder with detectives, has gone a long way toward assuring victims that someone will be there to address their emotional needs as their case moves forward."
The swell in participation is the first measurable progress resulting from Mayor Frank Jackson's year-long campaign to improve the way police handle sexual assault and missing persons cases in the aftermath of the Imperial Avenue serial killings and the arrest of suspect Anthony Sowell.
Jackson appointed a special commission in 2009, after The Plain Dealer reported that at least six of the women whose remains were found in Sowell's home were killed after police failed to adequately investigate accusations that he raped two other women.
In a 900-page report published in April, the panel identified more than two dozen deficiencies in the way Cleveland police do business -- and Jackson vowed to resolve them all.
An oversight committee charged with tracking the city's progress has issued quarterly reports ever since, indicating what has been done to satisfy each of the commission's recommendations.
So far, the city reports it has met the majority of its goals. But how most of those changes will effect the quality of sex crimes investigations is yet to be seen.
For example, among the first reported improvements was that the city issued cell phones and e-mail addresses to all sex crimes detectives. But members of the oversight committee say it's unclear whether victims have more access to detectives because of the added technology.
Also detectives, who previously logged their investigative work in paper case files, are transitioning to an electronic case-management system. But Deputy Chief Edward Tomba said in a recent interview that the technology is not sophisticated enough to perform a critical function -- cross-referencing cases and flagging patterns that could lead to the arrest of serial rapists.
Nearly a year after the commission recommended the city remodel the sex crimes unit offices to create a more victim-friendly environment, the committee reports this effort is in progress. So far, however, the improvements are limited to a recent fresh coat of paint in the office's waiting rooms -- work performed by outside volunteers, the Rape Crisis Center reports.
And further improvements are on hold until county officials determine the fate of the Family Justice Center initiative, which might relocate the sex crimes unit altogether.
The city also reports that a team of specially-trained prosecutors have been assigned to work closely with sex crimes detectives to help them improve the quality of their investigations. But those same 12 prosecutors handle most of the city's domestic violence docket, as well -- more than 1,000 cases a year.
Other commission recommendations are slated to be addressed in the coming year and could either yield measurable progress or reveal further deficiencies.
All police officers will be required to participate in a Rape Crisis Center-designed training program on best practices in sexual assault report-taking. And a company called Wilson Research Strategies has been commissioned to audit detectives caseloads and perform a quality assurance assessment.
For now, the committee is impressed with the city's continued effort, said committee spokeswoman Yvonne Tripplett.
"We realized it wasn't going to happen overnight," Tripplett said. "Anything that can be done isn't going to benefit the 11 women on Imperial Avenue. But it will help people in the future, and that's something we're really pleased to be a part of."
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/01/cleveland_rape_crisis_center_s.html
