In the Wake of 11 Women's Deaths, a Glimmer of Hope

Cleveland made national news in recent weeks after 11 women's bodies were discovered at the home of convicted rapist Anthony Sowell.

My city could make national news again — and change how police departments across the country handle cases of rape and sexual assault — because of three women charged with examining policies toward victims of such attacks here.

"The mayor gave us three objectives," Teresa Beasley said. "Examine current policies; look at best practices; and make recommendations."

Mayor Frank Jackson appointed three professionals who are standouts in their fields. They also are mothers who live in the city of Cleveland. For them, this is not an intellectual exercise.

Beasley is 44, a former Cleveland law director and an attorney with Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP. Mary Bounds is 62 and Cleveland's assistant safety director, and early in this decade, she served briefly as the city's first female police chief. Megan O'Bryan is the 39-year-old president and CEO of the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, one of the largest such organizations in the country.

They have 90 days to conduct an investigation and make recommendations. Mayor Jackson said at a news conference last week that he gave the commission no boundaries.

Each woman, in separate interviews, admitted to feeling the weight of responsibility and then immediately pivoted to praise the commitment and talent of her fellow commissioners. Each stressed that they never have worked together before, but together they will get the job done.

What a welcome sign of leadership in a town so accustomed to blowhards who, at the slightest sign of trouble, thump their chests and point fingers at others.

Public outcry over the murders is the reason for the commission, but it will not focus on the Sowell case because of the ongoing criminal investigation. Sowell faces trial for 11 counts of aggravated murder and other charges, including attacks against three other women. He has pleaded not guilty, claiming insanity.

In the wake of these murders, it's impossible to believe there's no room for improvement in policy and procedures.

As The Plain Dealer's Rachel Dissell and Mark Puente previously reported, in the year before six of the women were killed, two other women claimed that Sowell had attacked them. Police failed to pursue these allegations aggressively. Had they responded differently, six women might still be alive.

Some of the victims' families say police indifference forced them to canvass streets and offer rewards on their own. In that ZIP code alone, there are 170 known registered sex offenders.

Lest we are tempted to think only some women are at risk, O'Bryan is quick to point out that 1 in 6 women in this country will be raped or sexually assaulted in her lifetime. This is America's problem, not just Cleveland's. But it is right here, right now that three women have been charged to find answers to some of the hardest questions.

There are too many to list here, but let's start with these:

—What, if any, police protocol exists for determining the credibility of a woman who alleges rape or sexual assault?

—What must we do to encourage rape victims to feel safe enough to come forward?

—Why do cities allocate far fewer staff members and resources to sex crimes than they do to drug raids?

Such questions reflect a concern for not only the priorities of law enforcement but also a culture that too often victimizes the victim whenever the accuser is a woman and the accusation is rape.

Teresa Beasley, Mary Bounds and Megan O'Bryan said they'll pull no punches in making hard calls.

Bounds: "If there is a better way to do things, we will find it, and it will be implemented."

O'Bryan: "There's always room for improvement, and we look forward to making recommendations that we can share with the nation."

Beasley: "What we find is what we find. We are willing to say it."

One big question looms:

Who will listen?

Connie Schultz is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and the author of two books from Random House, "Life Happens" and "... and His Lovely Wife." She is a featured contributor in a recently released book by Bloomsbury, "The Speech: Race and Barack Obama's 'A More Perfect Union.'" To find out more about Connie Schultz (cschultz@plaind.com) and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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