Rob's Legacy

When Rob died we promised that we would try to carry on making a difference for him and also getting him justice.

We had a large list and said even if one thing was done on the list than that would end up okay since we just could not walk away from him in death. We ended up accomplishing everything -mostly- on the list since we had a lot of determination and help from others.

1. Reward the kids that sold Lemonade and cut lawns in the Cudell neighborhood to get money for Rob's Family. The kids that sold the Lemonade were actually accosted to give their money up to some thugs but they fought them off. The kids all got special recognition awards from the police department after we requested this be done.
   
2. Set up a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Agency (HIDTA) for Ohio. Ohio was working out of the one that covered West Va and only parts of Ohio. We lobbied Congress for about a year with the help of my husband (Special Agent John Forbes), Congressman Kucinich, Congressman DeWine and Senator Voinovich. We ended up getting a HIDTA located in Cleveland and it now covers all of Ohio.
   
3. New legislation and grants for troubled children (Juvenile Justice Bill). We worked with Congressman Kucinich, Congressman DeWine and Senator Voinovich to get grants for law enforcement for automation and other needed things. We also worked on stricter penalties for juveniles if they were repeat offenders-but also money to be funded to organizations that could help troubled teens. My husband worked with each Congressman on this legislation. This was passed after several years of fighting over the bill. It ended up being two bills. One for grants and one that dealt specifically with Juvenile Justice. One area we did not get into the Juvenile Justice Bill was the ability of each state to see a juveniles records and the ability to track juveniles with violent histories of gun violence. We also wanted juveniles that committed crimes with guns to not have the ability to purchase a gun again (this did not go through since the controversy over gun ownership).
   
4. Stricter penalties for offenders when arrested and they beat up policemen. This was passed by Ohio as a state law with the work of the First District and Detective Van Werth.
   
5. The prosecution of the person that sold the gun to Corey Majors. The gun was bought illegally by this person and then sold. The ATF and the State Attorney worked with our mother to prosecute this person. It was one of the few times in the state's history that they actually prosecuted a person under this law. The person ended up doing 3 years in jail.
   
6. The creation of the Memorial garden in back of the apartment where Rob died. This was the Bi-centennial Garden. Jay Westbrook took it upon himself to plan with us and finish this garden. It was then re-named the Robert J. Clark memorial Garden. We hold yearly memorial services at this site and host a picnic for people in the Cudell neighborhood.
   
7. The tearing down of the apartment building where Rob died and the creation of some type of business that would help the community. CVS Pharmacy stepped up to the plate and took the place of the apartment building after it was torn down. The community ahs been grateful that something that was needed came back into the neighborhood.
   
8. Donations to the Newton D. Baker Elementary School where my brother helped make sure the kids were safe. Many of them wrote us letters to express their sympathies. These letters went into the court case against the man that sold the gun illegally. They were used as victim impact statements. We visited the school and donated clothes, supplies and other things that are needed on a daily basis for this school.
   
9. Creation of and endowment for TRI-C Community college. My sister, Barb Heim, and our Mom, Pat McLaughlin, set this up and many people in the community donated. This has helped about 6 children thus far to continue their education.
   
10. Creation of an endowment for the Berea Children's Home. Myself, our mother and our other sister, Pat Conte, set this up to help the children at the Berea Home for Children. So far we have set aside close to $2,000 to defray the cost to the home for the care of children in need. This also goes towards those that want to continue on to college.
    
11. The thorough investigation of what led up to the tragic events to Rob. We had the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Karen Schultz) help in this effort and she did an outstanding job. Also we had Jeff Robinson, a leading author, do the investigative work starting in Florida with Corey's family then to Ohio.
    
12. The apology in writing of the state of Florida to our family which would state they were in error with never picking up Corey Majors while in Ohio. Congressman Kucinich demanded this of the Florida States Attorney and the US Florida Congressmen-he got it. With this letter we were able to demand that Florida change its extradition laws state wide and if not that at least in the county that would not pick up Corey majors. We needed getting the county to do it since the state would not.
    
13. The institution of a Death's Benefit Manual in the Cleveland PD. Previously there was little written down and nothing to speak of to give grieving people. Ohio COPS and National COPS ended up instituting this for Cleveland. This also went hand in hand with the instituting of a more up-to-date Benefits/Counseling Department in the Cleveland PD.
    
14. The review of the neighborhood where Rob died to determine what was happening with some of the abandoned homes or other areas that the PD was or did go to for drug interaction. This was done by using an old program that my group had written while I worked in Customs. My husband made sure it was run and he found houses had or were suspicious and some were linked to people with ties to major drug trafficking.
    
15. The development of better light weight jackets for protection for the police. The industry was moving towards this but it has been very slow. More vests were donated to the Cleveland PD after my brother's death by individuals or organizations.
    
16. The donation of paintings of Rob in uniform to Berea Children's Home and the police. We had several commissioned and donated them.

None of this was or ahs been easy. it does not take place of the loved one you loose-but it at least shows people can make a difference in the worse situations. We often think that Rob would be happy if he was here with what we promised him concerning his justice-but also that we just did not walk away from his grave site and never try to make a difference for him.

--Rob's Family