Philadelphia police and treatment of rape cases

Although my capacity as a volunteer allowed me to be present when victims were questioned by Delaware County police, I was not allowed to provide the same support for victims whose assault occurred in Philadelphia (and so were handled by the Special Victims Unit). Finally, is it really necessary for these victims to be driven from all across the city to the Northeast to submit their report (often in the middle of night)? Couldn't each district have specially trained officers to handle these cases? Each small borough in Delaware County manages its own rape cases. Surely, with proper training and oversight, a decentralized, humane procedure could be developed and implemented for sexual crimes in Philadelphia. The sexual assault victims in the city deserve at least that much.

Susan Keller

East Lansdowne

Mark Fazlollah, Michael Matza and Craig R. McCoy and Clea Benson are all to be commended for opening up discussion of the "swept under the rug" rape and assault cases (Inquirer, Oct. 17-18). It's about time the Special Victims Unit looks thoroughly into these cases. And I hope that with the heat that women's groups and Judge Lisa Richette are raising, that Police Commissioner John F. Timoney will be more aggressive with this issue and will supply more staff to investigate these crimes.

I felt so badly for the women who were brave enough to allow their names and pictures to be included in your article. Hopefully, your doggedness in pursuing this story will bring their rapists, and others, to light.

Barbara Cicalese

Exton

I applaud The Inquirer for its articles disclosing the Philadelphia Police Department's failure to fully investigate sexual assault crimes (Inquirer, Oct. 17-19). The women of Philadelphia have been deceived yet again by the very institution that promises to protect them.

All eyes should now be on Commissioner John F. Timoney for a serious and visible effort to develop a unit within his department that truly has the commitment to investigate all sexual assault crimes and to treat the victims of these heinous crimes with the respect and sensitivity they need and deserve.

Councilman Angel Ortiz should move ahead with City Council hearings. Public scrutiny is required to ensure that the police department's response to these crimes improves.

Paula Weiss

Philadelphia