Over the period of several months, the city of Columbus and its police department have worked towards building a stronger relationship with the people in our community. From events such as “Coffee with a Cop” and neighborhood meetings to review old policies and implement new ones, the city’s police department has taken steps to achieve that goal.
Yet there remains one area where the city’s police department, in particular, has done a poor job: keeping citizens informed of what’s happening in their community. The public has a right to know what is happening in the community and what police are doing about it. Even limited information is better than none at all.
The events of this weekend are a case in point.
On Friday shortly after 10 p.m., there was an officer-involved shooting near the intersection of 21st Street and 15th Avenue North that claimed the life of Ricky Javonta Ball, 26. Few details have emerged since then, and it will likely be weeks, even months, before the full account of what happened that evening is made known.
At 1:30 a.m. Saturday, the CPD sent a three-sentence email to the media. It read: “On the evening of October 16, 20015 shortly after 10:00pm an officer with the Columbus Police Department was involved in a shooting. The investigation of the shooting has been turned over to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation at the request of Police Department Administration. No further details at this time.”
Since that email, calls from The Dispatch to CPD Chief Tony Carleton and Captain of Criminal Investigations Division Brent Swan have gone unanswered. We are hard-pressed to understand why ignoring calls from the media is an option.
Finally, at 11:30 a.m. Monday — 58 hours after the CPD’s email was sent — city officials gathered at the municipal complex for a media briefing. Carleton, Mayor Robert Smith and councilmen Kabir Karriem and Gene Taylor spoke.
“On Friday, a tragic situation occurred in our city,” Smith said. “Our sincere sympathy goes out to the family of Mr. Ball and to the friends and families of everyone involved.”
Each official expressed similar sentiments.
The mayor urged the community to be patient as the investigation continues and urged that “assumptions not be made.”
The mayor and city officials acted appropriately in acknowledging the tragedy, expressing sympathy and urging restraint from the public. The question: Why wait almost two-and-a-half days to calm fears and reassure citizens that a thorough investigation is under way?
It is not as though there was anything said during Monday’s briefing that could not have been said at any point during the previous 58 hours.
Instead, there was only silence and if nature abhors a vacuum, we see the results here. As city and police officials maintained virtual “radio silence,” residents were left to speculate, assume and gossip.
We have often criticized the city and its departments for failures to communicate with media. Perhaps, we have given the impression it is a dispute between reporters and officials. It is not.
If city officials want to build stronger relations with its citizens, one of the most important things they can do is communicate with them. The media is the most effective means by which the city does that. We are perplexed as to how our city leaders cannot grasp this simple idea.
After the briefing, Mayor Smith acknowledged the city could have responded in a more timely manner and promised, “We’ll do better.”
For the sake the city and the community he serves, we hope that proves to be true.
It is not a difficult thing to achieve. All that is necessary is to pick up the phone when it rings.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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