Retired San Jose Police Chief Joseph D. McNamara argues that the recent sniper case illustrates why officials should give the public more information about such investigations.
After all, as the Washington Post reported, the key piece of information that led to the capture of the snipers -- the vehicle and license plate tag -- was made public through a leak and not an official announcement. McNamara writes:
Yet the basic lesson remains: The public has a right to know. The old police mythology of withholding information is more likely to impede than aid in solving crimes. An informed, law-abiding citizenry is policing's most valuable asset.Yes, secrecy is sometimes necessary. But there is also a need for our law enforcement and government officials to provide information that can help the public assess risks -- and help crack a case.
I heard an interesting theory today (on CNN, I believe) from an ex-police chief. His thought was that Chief Moose, being no slouch in the police field, managed a splendid acting job regarding several of these "leaks." He believes it is entirely possible that necessary information was intentionally "leaked" to the press instead of being officially disseminated in order to allow the police to appear in public and get the dialogue going with the sniper by being able to say things like "We're SO sorry this info leaked out. We didn't mean to upset you. Can you call back, please?" while getting the info out there. Until Chief Moose weighs in, if he ever does, we have no way of knowing if this was his actual course of action, but, then again, we don't know that it wasn't...... (It is interesting, though, given that the combination of leaked info and getting the suspects to call back and spill a bit too much info was what did them in in the end.....)