07/11/13: Echo of an awful time

This op-ed appeared in The Virginian-Pilot on the date shown.

I HAD TO read it several times to believe the date: April 26, 2012. Not 1972 or even 1992 but 2012 — last year. And every time I read it, I got angrier.

Pilot reporter Patrick Wilson laid out in detail the case of a rape survivor’s treatment at the hands of the Norfolk Police Department — and it wasn’t anything like you may have seen on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

From the start, it seems the police didn’t believe her. That used to be a common response: Either the victim “asked for it” or consented. A rape survivor is further victimized by such behavior.

The women’s rights movement included a focus on changing the behavior of the police and medical professionals who deal with rape survivors, while simultaneously reforming rape laws. Statistics show a steady decline in the number of rapes and sexual assaults, from an estimated 555,600 in 1995 to 269,700 in 2010, based on a report issued earlier this year by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. That represents a decline from 5 per 1,000 females ages 12 or older to 2.1.

But statistics mean nothing to individuals who are raped or sexually assaulted. For them, it is a rate of 1 out of 1.

I have no idea what would have prompted a female officer, of all people, to start an investigation by threatening the victim. Nor does interrogating the victim before taking her to the hospital, as Wilson reported, make any sense. What happened to “serve and protect?” Or does that not apply to victims of sexual assault?

The easy way out is to say that the officers need “retraining.” Unless there is an abundance of fake sexual assault reports, I have a hard time understanding how it is possible that anyone under the age of 50 could think that treating a victim as a liar is the way to go. If that’s the case, then something more than retraining is needed.

I think it important that the Norfolk police come clean on this episode. They need to convince us that such behavior is not widespread within the department. More than anything, they need to convince us that they believe in their mission to protect and serve by walking the walk, not just talking the talk.

Transparency is the key. The Norfolk Police Department should release the names of the officers involved and tell us what punishment was meted out for their despicable behavior. By doing so, not only can we assess how seriously the department takes such episodes, but also how serious the department is about our safety.

Near the top of everyone’s list of community concerns is safety. Having a police force that we can count on is a part of that and Norfolk’s has gone to great lengths over the years to connect with the citizens. It is almost impossible to attend a civic league meeting in the city without having a police officer present, giving not only crime statistics but information. They are a part of the community and generally deserving of our trust.

But when a few violate that trust, we have a right to know; otherwise, we lose trust in the entire department. After all of these years of building relationships with the community, I doubt that’s the result they want to achieve.