Morning Read: How do police set their priorities?
The Burlington Free Press ran a fascinating piece this week looking at the very different approaches taken by law enforcement in two missing person cases.
One involved a missing couple from the Vermont town of Essex; the other involved an 11-year-old girl from New Hampshire, whose body was found in Vermont.
As reporter Mike Donoghue found, the girl’s search involved dozens of police, FBI agents and other resources.
In the case of a missing Essex couple, William and Lorraine Currier, state police have assigned two detectives to the investigation full-time and use other officers as Essex police request.
Col. Robert Quinn, head of New Hampshire state police, told the Free Press that at one point more than 200 officers were searching for Celina Cass.
“Why the response? I think it is obvious: When an 11-year-old disappears, collectively, law enforcement pulls together. We all have the shared goal to reunite the child with the parents.”
It’s understandable. But it also raises some serious questions about how law enforcement prioritizes for different people. My own industry — journalism — is certainly drawn to “charismatic” victims in ways that aren’t always ethical or appropriate.
I’m not saying that happened here. But I think Donoghue’s article raises some provocative questions. Read it in full here and chime in below.
Tags: crime, criminal justice
Pretty much every local crime story that the national “news” media freaks out about has a victim with the same qualities: white, young, female and adorable looking. Nearly all are upper middle class. When was the last time they did so over a victim who was a minority? A boy? Maybe a bit homely looking?
Frankly, I think these stories should invariably be nothing more than local/regional but… it’s not a coincidence that the national media latch on to cases like Jon Bennet Ramsey (the six year old girl who was already in beauty pageants) and not those of people like Jaliek Rainwalker (the biracial boy from Greenwich, NY who disappeared several years ago). Speaks volumes about our superficiality…
Yes, well just maybe all missing person incidents should be covered if they take place within 50 miles and let all the others go uncovered by local media.
Likewise, the police should be concerned about anything in their jurisdiction.
I guess all this just goes to show some, especially those doing TV news, often opt for the so called sensational news even if the story takes place hundreds and even thousands of miles away from the area they claim to cover.
Personally, my interest rapidly drops the further it takes place from where I live. I do make an exception for Albany and Washington politics but really couldn’t care less about crime stories further than 50 miles from where I live, if I bother to care even then because crime isn’t really news.
There is no prioritization. Law enforcement is a grab bag mix of local, county and federal response, there is no one agency in charge of prioritizing one response in New York City and another response in Vermont. I think it comes down to the responding police who ask for help in a big way or don’t ask for help it also is up to the community.
It will by its very nature be uneven.