Re: Broadcast bulletins to alert Mainers to child abductions

["Aaron [Bishop] Read" <aread@speakeasy.net>]

At 01:41 PM 8/22/2002, Dave Faneuf wrote:
>The other major flaw is getting timely and accurate information.  I
>recall a Lowell girl was missing a couple of years ago, it was 3 or 4
>DAYS before the police went public and that was only AFTER the family
>contacted Channel 5.  It has been my experience that departments don't
>like to go to other agencies for help so it begs the question will the
>local departments be quick to contact State Police or whatever agency is
>designated to operate Amber Alert in time that it would make a
>difference?
>df

There are many very legitimate reasons why a police agency would not want 
to go public about a kidnapping.  Sometimes the media coverage will "egg 
on" a kidnapper to act rashly and kill the abductee.  Sometimes the police 
are withholding vital info that only the kidnapper would know so as to 
distinguish between fake copycats and the real thing.  There are other 
reasons, too.

It's not uncommon for parents to not understand, or not care, about these 
reasons.  Being the parent tends to reduce one's objectivity (no kidding! 
:-)  and they can often think the police are being slow and/or unresponsive 
to their desires.  Perhaps in some cases the parent is right and the police 
ARE being slow and/or unresponsive.  But rarely is a parent in a good 
position to make an objective judgement on that call.  As such, going to 
the media can often be the worst thing the parents can do.   Not to mention 
that parent has now poisoned the relationship with the police and will 
likely not receive full - or any - cooperation besides the bare minimum of 
what is required.  Think about it - you've done your job for 15 years; you 
feel you're pretty good at it.  Do you want some no-name somebody who 
doesn't know squat about what you do to make you look bad on regional (or 
national) TV saying that you're an idiot and should be fired?  I sure 
wouldn't be inclined to go the extra mile for that person after a stunt 
like that.

That said, I'm not really disagreeing with Dave's points above...they're 
quite valid as well.  But obviously once a parent has forced the police's 
hand then there's little reason to not go full public then.


____________________________________________
Aaron "Bishop" Read     aread@speakeasy.net
FriedBagels.com Technical Consulting
www.friedbagels.com   AOL-IM: ReadAaron