Thursday, November 12, 2009
YOU’RE TALKING A LOT BUT YOU’RE NOT SAYING ANYTHING
Posted by Frank Lewis on Thu, Nov 12, 2009 at 8:00 AM
The media coverage of Anthony Sowell has left me angry, though not for the reasons you might think. It was almost 30 years ago when I first entered the world of serial killers who rape and serial rapists who kill (yes, there is a difference). I have interviewed the perpetrators, their families, their victims’ families and the handful of survivors.
ALLEGATION: Somebody should have warned the neighborhood that a sexual offender was living in its midst. FACT: Somebody did warn the neighborhood — all neighborhoods. For several years, the Cuyahoga County sheriff’s office web site has provided a complete list of registered sexual offenders like Sowell. You can type in the city, the offender’s last name or your zip code. You will have pictures of every registered person and their known addresses. Some fail to report moves, but Sowell had been in full compliance for years. Familywatchdog.us, which I find difficult to use, covers the nation.
The primary duties of law enforcement do not include visiting to alert you that someone who has served his or her time lives in your neighborhood. You have to take responsibility for checking. You also have to remember that these are individuals not currently wanted for any crime.
ALLEGATION: The smell of decaying flesh permeated the neighborhood, led to countless calls to government officials and turned the street into a real-life version of the last scene of Poltergeist. FACT: When a handful of reporters finally began demanding accountability from the councilman, police and health-department officials, it turned out that there were almost no calls made in the last two or three years. Those that were made could not list a specific address (leading to speculation that the source was a nearby sausage factory). Investigators smelled nothing because decaying flesh is not disgusting for long. That’s one of the reasons cadaver dogs are used to find bodies.
ALLEGATION: Had the police just gone inside when making their random check to be certain that Sowell was at the address registered to the sheriff’s office, the horror surely would have been discovered. FACT: Sowell was not on parole. Sowell had served his time and was free to return to society. There could be no uninvited entry without a search warrant, and there was no justification for a search warrant as of the last random check in September.
ALLEGATION: The victims were black women, so no one gave a damn. Now if they had been sweet blondes from nice neighborhoods … FACT: All serial killers follow a logical pattern. The problem is knowing how they are thinking when they start committing crimes, usually before the age of 21, which is why there is such interest in Sowell’s distant past.
In the easiest cases to solve, the killer acts within a specific area, targeting individuals with an obvious commonality, like all redheads working second shift at fast-food restaurants within a three-mile radius of one another. The hardest have victims who share a personality type — in this case, victims who were mostly struggling with drugs and alcohol and who, during low points, were likely to go with a pleasant stranger to get high in his home. Pointing out that they were black and Sowell is black is not racist. It is a fact and one more detail that kept anyone from spotting anything wrong. Had he been white or the women been white, that fact might have been different enough for someone to remember. Might.
ALLEGATION: The families notified police. FACT: When? Of what? Most of the victims’ families neither acted in a timely manner nor provided information that might have determined if a crime had been committed, and in one instance, they went to a law enforcement agency that had no jurisdiction and no information to warrant involvement or turning the matter over to the appropriate authorities. Several of the identified women were estranged from their families to a degree that their going off the wagon for a few days then wandering back to try sobriety again was a familiar pattern. There was nothing to indicate foul play.
Personal note: I’ve lived near Page Avenue in East Cleveland. This was not only a street where drugs were readily available, it was not unusual to see a partially clad, thoroughly disheveled woman who had crashed in a vacant apartment going down the street at sunrise, trying to be inconspicuous in a bra and panties. Such stories were often told at area Narcotics Anonymous meetings by women who had survived and triumphed.
ALLEGATION: Women who were victims of Sowell’s violence went to police and nothing was done. FACT: This may be partly true, something that will not be known until all bodies are unearthed and all who encountered him have come forward. However, because the victims were on the fringes of society and struggling with substance abuse, they had a fear of law enforcement or a tendency to drift, their whereabouts on any given day unknown. They did not go along with critical procedures to assure prosecution, including giving interviews to detectives and filing formal complaints necessary for the prosecutor to act. They can come alone, with a family member, an advocate from Witness/Victim or a friend, but if they don’t seek justice, the abuser will continue hurting others.
And finally, this FACT: Men and women committing sexual violence are in every community, including those where the privileged pretend they are immune.
Law enforcement reacts to known problems. If a missing person has a documented history of high-risk behavior with periodic absences, he or she will rightfully be a lower priority. One woman was heard commenting that she wouldn’t want to know if someone like Sowell was in her neighborhood so long as he didn’t bother her. Reality is that we all must look out for ourselves and each other, and that includes using the sheriff’s sexual offender list.
As for the news media, when they fail to provide all relevant information they have failed the community they are supposed to serve.
That’s why I am angry. — Ted Schwarz
Comments (5)
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Who do you work for? Law enforcement? You have just presented what the police will say when they are questioned regarding their accountability for failing to notice something was amiss on Imperial Ave. Apparently, you are unaware that there exists a digital divide in the U.S. Yes, there are actually ppl in U.S. who are not technologically savvy nor do they own or use a computer. Which is why law enforcement, when alerting community of missing children or important information, must utilize more than one type of media to disperse information. I'm on the computer everyday, however my mother has never used a computer. If info about a serial killer or rapist was on the internet, she would never get the info. If some of Sowell's victims were not even reported to police as missing, why would you expect ppl who did not lodge a missing person report to be online looking up sexual predators? It would be a better approach for local law enforcement to inform the people that there is a sexual predator in their midst. And even if residents of Imperial Ave. had learned that there was a sexual predator on their street and called police, would the police have acted on the information? The one group we know for sure was aware of Anthony Sowell was law enforcement. That's who knew there was a sexual predator on Imperial Ave. Law enforcement also should have detected a pattern with the missing women from or near Imperial Ave and the fact that there was a convicted sexual predator on that same street. Law enforcement is not at fault for every mistake in this case, but they certainly dropped the ball when it came to upholding their oath to serve & protect.
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Ted, you are angry for all the wrong reasons. Your bias towards these women resembles the exact bias they were subjected to by Cleveland Police Dept while they were living and are now subjected to in death. I have walked into police stations to report a problem and encountered callous attitudes and little help. I am not on drugs nor am I scantily clad. Yet, the lack of concern and assistance was discouraging. In fact, at this point, I try to avoid calling the police if I can help it. Most of my encounters w/ police have been creepy. In Pittsburgh, there was a serial rapist known as the East End Rapist. Information about the East End Rapist was dispersed via our three local papers and the television. Somehow, local law enforcement determined there was a pattern of late night break-ins into homes of single women, both black and white, which ended in rape but not murder. Now, it's possible that since the rapes were occurring in middle/working class neighborhoods w/ a strong tax base, officials acted in a professional manner and did their job, which is to serve & protect, not ignore and deflect.
I cannot believe you actually reported what was said in an Narcotics Anonymous meeting. Have you no decency? The rooms are supposed to be a safe place to share the shameful things one has done while in the grips of addiction. The info shared is not to be used to titillate readers. Ask any member of the rooms of Narcotics Anonymous and I'm almost sure your reference would be unappreciated. Totally uncool.
These women are not only victims of Anthony Sowell, but also victims of law enforcement and the entire system. What is the reason no one was able to determine where the putrid odor was coming from on Imperial Ave? In the U.S., and other countries. people who are low-income are expected to live in foul-smelling, rundown & poorly kept neighborhoods. The public services delivered to poor neighborhoods is not the same services delivered to affluent/middle-class neighborhoods. I manage property in a low-income neighborhood and garbage pick-up, street cleaning, vacant lot maintenance leaves a lot to be desired. In my neighborhood however, public services are excellent. In my tenant's neighborhood I see clear disparities in the delivery of services. Why? My neighborhood has a larger tax base. What the people on Imperial Ave. experienced is known as "Environmental Injustice" You said that neighbors hadn't called about odors in a year or so. Well, what do you expect? If you called and called and nothing happened, would you keep calling? There are records indicating that calls were made. The fact that the Sausage Company invested thousands into cleaning sewers to eliminate odors is proof that not only residents were aware of smell but also local businesses. The trained professionals who visited Sowell's house and stood on porch should have recognized the odor of decaying bodies, after all that is their job as law enforcement and health inspectors. You are blaming victims who lacked the financial or political resources to combat bias attitudes toward women w/ addictions, environmental injustice and clear incompetency of law enforcement, health inspectors and political leaders who failed to do their jobs. Isn't that why voters elect public officials so that they will have a voice in governmental decisions that impact their lives. What public official was advocating for a better quality of life for residents of East Cleveland? What law enforcement member put the puzzle together that women were missing from same street where convicted sex offender lived? What Health inspector determined that smell was that of decaying bodies and not sausage? Sowell knew from experience that he could get away with killing black women. Sowell knew that even if family members filed a missing persons report, he would not see these black women's faces or stories on Nancy Grace or even the local news. And how did he know that? Because he has been killing black women for years and years, and no one seemed to notice or care.... He selected the perfect victim. One law enforcement and media, like yourself, were sure to belittle, undervalue as human beings and dismiss as worthless because they had a criminal record or history of addiction. You ultimately blame the women and their families while giving Anthony Sowell, law enforcement and officials pats on the back for doing a good job.
Do you live in Cleveland? I doubt it. I am a former Clevelander. Myself and about a dozen my friends moved out. Believe me when I say the police do eveything possible to discourage you from reporting crime. My former place was broken into 4 times. My car was broken into 3 times. The couple downstairs was also victimized on several occasions. My friends all had similar experiences. Each time the police were called we were told the police would not come out or we would have to wait for hours. One girl across the street was asked by the police after she was beaten to a pulp covered in blood "What did you do to make him hit you?" You might think I lived in a poorer neighborhood but I did not. I lived in Tremont. The house next to me sold for 300,000.00. My friends also lived in Tremont and Ohio City. You bet I believe the people on the East Side of Cleveland were given even worse treatment than I got. Where do you live in Fantasy Land?
