The focus of the Fulton Safety Committee meeting Tues.
night was whether to post, on the Fulton Neighborhood
Web site, a photo of an individual suspected in more
than 16 local burglaries and miscellaneous stalking
incidents. The group consensus was to wait for the
police to give their ok; the police are concerned that
putting the photo online will taint future lineups.
In the mean time, the suspect is at large (free on
too-low bail) while the police look for him in
connection with other charges.
I certainly understand working with and deferring to
the police, but it seems like not widely circulating
the photo ultimately hinders them (and the community)
more than it helps. First, the best way to enlist the
public's support looking for someone is to let it know
what he/she looks like. Especially in SW Minneapolis,
there are thousands of retired homeowners who can be
additional eyes and ears during the day. Second,
keeping vital info under wraps hinders the community's
ability to protect itself and to prevent future
crimes. Finally, neighborhood Web sites have the
potential to be a vital community resource, but no
one’s going to regularly use them until there’s
actually important, topical info there (the Fulton
site apparently gets a meager 100-200 hits a month).
What could be more relevant than info about a (local)
one-man crime wave?
I would rather have more info in the public's hands,
sooner, rather than less, later (David Brauer made
this argument first in a recent Southwest Journal
piece). It seems like there should be some creative
way(s) for info to be in the public domain via the Web
without compromising police investigations, while
still paying heed to civil liberties concerns. How
about “virtual” lineups, using technology to expedite
gathering eyewitness accounts, etc.?
Ross A. Kaplan
Fulton Neighborhood
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