If a terrible crime were to happen to you, you’d probably call the police.
Soon after you learn how to dial 911, going to the police with your troubles is kind of a learned instinct. But imagine the horror when you realize that, despite your cries for help, no one is coming to protect or serve you.
This is the story of Maria Treme and thousands of other men and women who have taken their cases of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse to the New Orleans Police Department’s Special Victims Unit.
Treme’s story is unsettling. After spending the night at The Country Club, a bar so hip even the likes of Beyoncé and Jay-Z have visited, Treme woke up to find bruises covering her inner thighs and a bottle of personal lubricant by her bed that she didn’t remember buying or using. She also discovered that both her car and her keys were missing.
After retracing her steps to the swanky bar, Treme watched surveillance videos from her time at the bar the previous night. She remembered paying for a $36 bar tab, but the footage showed a much larger bill.
Employees also informed her that she had sex with a man in the club’s pool, another man in the sauna and was seen leaving, wearing only a towel, with yet another man.
Detective Keisha Ferdinand was assigned to Treme’s case, but NOPD officers didn’t take Treme to the hospital until later that night. Even then, Treme’s medical records from that night show that the four-plus hours of exams and blood tests didn’t start until 11 p.m.
It’s this type of stalling and inaction that can lead to date-rape drugs, like Rohypnol and GHB, escaping the victim’s system and thus not being detected in the materials gathered for a rape kit.
In addition, NOPD didn’t bother to investigate the evidence found in Treme’s car, which was located and towed to an impound lot. The police even claim Treme’s drugging and assault were completely unrelated to the stolen car, despite the fact they occurred on the same night.
The lack of investigation into Treme’s case led her to go public with her story, allowing both local and national outlets to publish her name.
But sadly, her case is not special.
A recent report conducted by the New Orleans Office of Inspector General revealed that five detectives in the NOPD Special Victims Unit have ignored literally thousands of sex crimes in a three-year period.
I guess every cop can’t be as passionate about their job as detectives Benson and Stabler.
Jokes aside, this is one of the few instances where I am ashamed of my hometown’s actions. I can tolerate the too-spicy cuisine, the New Orleans Saints and the potholed streets, but the corruption of our government and police department isn’t nearly as endearing.
According to NOPD’s Public Integrity Bureau, there were 1,290 sex crime-related calls assigned to the five detectives in question. Only in 179 cases did these detectives provide or file “supplemental reports documenting any additional investigative efforts beyond the initial report.”
How are these guys even detectives when they only take out their magnifying glasses and notepads 13.9 percent of the time?
It’s unknown whether Ferdinand, who was assigned to Treme’s tragic case, was one of the five officers discussed in the Inspector General’s report. I can’t help to think that, with NOPD’s notoriously low standards, Ferdinand might be considered one of the better cops in the Special Victims Unit.
I can’t help but think of the thousands of victims who were denied justice because of the careless inaction of these detectives. If the NOPD had higher standards of police conduct, the Special Victims Unit wouldn’t be “working” at such a low rate of investigation.
The victims of child abuse, rape and domestic violence that this particular unit deal with are called “special” for a reason. These victims are already faced with the various stigmas that society has placed on them, and their stories are often the ones that go untold.
This is exactly why special victims units exist, but I guess NOPD doesn’t understand that.
SidneyRose Reynen is a 19-year-old film and media arts sophomore from New Orleans, Louisiana. You can reach her on Twitter @sidneyrose_TDR.