Joe Lockhart was White House press secretary from 1998-2000 in President Bill Clinton's administration, and the NFL's executive vice president for communications from 2016-2018. He co-hosts the podcast "Words Matter." The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion at CNN.

(CNN) The Ray Rice incident changed everything about how the National Football League handles domestic and sexual assault.

Rice was the player who in 2014 knocked out his fiancée with a vicious punch caught on an elevator camera. His trivial two-game suspension caused an outcry that forced the league to adopt a much-tougher policy against off-the-field violence.

Joe Lockhart

It's under that new policy that Antonio Brown, the New England Patriots wide receiver, is facing explosive accusations by his former trainer of sexual assault, including rape.

As someone who was right in the middle of the process as the executive vice president for Communications at the NFL from 2016-2018, I can tell you the new policy is working. I believe this because everyone is unhappy with it. Advocates for survivors of domestic violence think it's too soft on players, while the players union and even some owners believe it is far too tough.

At the core of the new policy is a commitment to investigate and adjudicate abuse cases independently of local law enforcement.