Neighbors Should Be More Involved With Each Other and Protect Each Other

Serial Killer Anthony Sowell Free To Kill With Impunity

I agree that neighbors should be more involved with each other and protect each other. I live in an Armenian neighborhood that has a great sense of community, and I don't even speak their language! This went from a high-crime area (due to outside gangs) to a low-crime area due to aggressive community involvement. There are lots of families and little kids here, and everybody says "hi" to me. The old men sit outside all day and play games and are watchful of suspicious activity and people in the area.

In defense of Mr. Sowell's neighbors, they did notice an odor around his house, but assumed it was coming from the sausage and cheese plant that was next door to his house. They complained to the plant, and the sausage plant even tried to solve the problem by changing a sewer line and replacing their grease traps. I don't know if anyone noticed him digging, but I can understand why many people might've shrugged it off. As Americans, it has been deeply ingrained in us to mind our own business. It wasn't until 9/11 that we were even encouraged to be aware of our surroundings. And it wasn't until Jaycee Dugard that we were actively encouraged to watch our neighbors.

The police were supposedly regularly checking on Mr. Sowell, but they were not allowed to enter his house. I believe this should be changed. In the case of Phillip Garrido, who kept Jaycee Dugard captive in his back yard for 18 years, there was a parole officer who stopped by 2 or 3 times a month, supposedly at random. He even came into the house. He claims to have never seen Jaycee there, or the two daughters she bore there. (Since he came over at random, and Jaycee helped the Garridos run a printing business out of their house, I think it's miraculous that the officer never saw Jaycee, but I don't know the details about that.)

I think that, considering the fact that Mr. Garrido was known to kidnap people, the officers should have been allowed to search his property from time to time. I know that sounds like a terrible violation of the man's civil rights, but I think it isn't that big of a sacrifice if you're a known kidnapper/rapist and you are being allowed to live free.

One last thing, and I don't mean to imply anything about Anthony Sowell's victims, but sometimes people aren't reported missing because they have been estranged from their family. Often these people are prostitutes or have drug problems, and do not have regular contact with their families. Killers deliberately seek these people out sometimes because they are not only easier targets, but because there is a slimmer chance that anyone will report them missing. I'm just pointing this out as a possibility; until we know more details about the victims' identities, then it's just speculation.

There is no easy answer, but one thing is for sure: There is a high incidence of repeat offending among certain types of rapists. Why they are allowed to ever leave prison is a mystery to me. But since they are, I think one of the conditions of their freedom should be occasional random searches of their property, particularly when people in their vicinity start to turn up missing.

Thanks for letting me say this; sorry it was so long.

Sincerely,

Justina Fader
Los Angeles, CA