A local Realtor believes the information Columbus Police Department releases to the public sometimes leads citizens to think certain violent crimes are random when they are not.
Colin Krieger, who works for RE/MAX Partners and serves on the CPD Citizen Overview Committee, addressed the issue during the committee’s meeting Thursday at the Municipal Complex. He specifically cited a Sunday incident, where officers arrested 42-year-old Christie Wooten after finding a man bound and beaten in a Seventh Street North residence.
Krieger said he lives next door to where the incident unfolded, and he knew the victim had invited the attackers into the home. However, because the press release to local media didn’t include that information, it made the crime appear random.
“I’m just wondering if for a press release, we can add something — maybe not call the guy out for whatever service he was seeking — but that little sentence saying he was familiar with the perpetrator, or he invited the perpetrator in the house,” Krieger said. “It takes away that ‘Oh God, here goes Columbus again,’ sort of thing, because the random crime in Columbus is extremely small.”
City Public Information Officer Joe Dillon said officials are aware of the problem of creating a perception of random crime issues in Columbus and are working to try to minimize it. He said he raised the issue with police consultant K.B. Turner — head of the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department at the University of Memphis — who issued his comprehensive report on CPD to the city council earlier this week.
“One of the things that’s in Dr. Turner’s report is to find out what we can say and what we can’t,” Dillon said. “Just to simply say there was a visitor at the house or something like that to show it’s not random. We’re working to try to get through all that now to give us access to the reports and find out what we can say without impeding the progress of the case. …We realize that’s an issue, too, but at the same time, we’re trying to resolve (the case).”
Assistant Police Chief Fred Shelton said the department must balance what information it can release with what could harm a case still under investigation.
“Sometimes in an investigation early on, we don’t have a lot of information,” he said. “So until we can confirm, as far as motive, because if we put it out there early, that could give that person a defense. If he reads it in the paper (he could say) ‘That wasn’t me, I didn’t go over there to do that. I went over there just to see my cousin.’ So we have to be careful with that.”
Still, Shelton said he works with Dillon daily to get information out. He added he has to work to debunk rumors as well as confirm information.
“If it’s not something, I’ll tell Joe in a heartbeat,” Shelton said. “Classic example: We had an incident where there was supposed to be a guy with a rifle walking around shooting people in East Columbus off South Lehmberg. Did that happen? No, it absolutely did not happen. There were no shell casings, there was nothing hit, no witnesses came forth. If there’s not something, I’m gonna tell you because I know how that rumor mill works.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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