Long, Painful Years Ago

Some old wounds never truly heal, and bleed again at the slightest word.

George R.R. Martin

Sitting at my desk in the early 2010s - unusual enough, I should have been out on the bike - the police officer assigned to our reception area called. He had a question.

"A woman just walked in to make a report of a sexual assault. It happened some time in the 1980s. What do you want me to do?"

It happens. Not often, and for a variety of reasons. At the point someone comes to the station to report that they have been the victim of a crime, our role is an easy one.

We take the report. We accept, in good faith, that the reporting person is giving us their truth. We take it down just the way he or she tells it. Judging their motives, their credibility - not our job...yet. They have a story to tell. We listen.

But, someone is saying as they read this, there is no chance this case will be prosecuted successfully. The statute of limitations. The... Everything!

We train our officers (who we call "agents") to be empathetic, but we are human beings. The reputation of law enforcement, that the first question we will ask is "What were you wearing," is not without some merit. But, that's not how our people are supposed to act.

At some point, though, there will be the gentle, almost apologetic discussion of reality with the person who has shown the bravery required to tell a stranger in uniform about the worst day in their lives. The case will be assigned to a detective. If the person he/she named as their assailant can be reached we will consider sitting down with them. If that person refuses to meet with us, or denies it happened...

Experts on human recollection, especially of traumatic events, teach that this is a tricky business. We are taught the limitations of perception and memory in the police academy. Experience also tells us that truth is elusive where facts are hard to come by.

At the end of the day the criminal justice system does not have many answers for someone who reports a crime thirty years after it happened. There are services we can provide - counseling, for example, from people trained in the trauma field. Sometimes, the mere fact of the report is enough for the victim.

Not all of these reports are genuine, or truthful. My first encounter with the arrest of an alleged sexual assault suspect turned out to be a "contract dispute." Some lonely businessman from Kansas (I think - this was 1980) encountered a young lady at a bar. They agreed on a price for her serves and repaired to his hotel room. At some point, there was a difference of recollection and he paid her what had been originally agreed to. She left, returning with a "friend" who also happened to be a cop.

But, at the beginning of the investigation, we began with the premise that she was telling us the truth. It's what everyone deserves.

The determination of credibility, of veracity, is left for later. Other facts are collected, other viewpoints considered. Sometimes, the truth is regrettably elusive to the unbiased mind. In the end, the best we can sometimes do is take their report, treat them with respect and wish them well.

Because they are human beings.