Police: Drug Bust at Wilson Park Soccer Field

Truth February 14, 2013 at 01:23 am

Can someone @ Patch please explain the policy for publishing the names of those arrested (not convicted). I have seen stories that involved both jurisdictions(SH/TT) and an alarming inconsistency in the reporting of names. Adults arrested for both non violent/violent crimes don't always have their names reported. Why a seventeen year old?

William Demarest (Editor) February 14, 2013 at 09:53 am

Truth: Patch reports the names of those charged with felonies and misdemeanors, which are matters of public record. In this case, misdemeanors; 17-year-olds are essentially treated as adults in the court system.

JOE February 14, 2013 at 08:39 pm

@william, you completely missed the point of @truth's question. It seems as though the decision to report a persons name or not is made totally at random, regardless of age or degree of the crime that they are accused of. This is VERY unprofessional. The people at Patch should either report everyone's name, or no one's. It is my personal opinion that the names should NOT be reported until they are accually convicted of the crime in question. Let's say that for whatever reason one or all of these offenders are not convicted of any of these charges. This article will be one of the first things to come up if you were to do a google search on any of these kids for years to come, witch could greatly hinder them trying to land a halfway decent job in the future, and that's really not right. On the other hand, after they have their day in court and they are indeed found guilty, I have no issue with their names being reported.

JOE February 14, 2013 at 09:09 pm

If any of these kids are currently employed they now could face being let go from their jobs - for a crime they have not yet been convicted of. So much for "innocent until proven guilty". The editors at Patch really need to come up with better S.O.P.'s for reporting these arrests.

Truth February 15, 2013 at 05:52 am

William, you are far too intelligent to not have understood my question. I want to know why some names are reported on Patch and others, who have committed the same or more serious offenses are not. This kid was smoking some grass and drinking, not out wilding and hurting people. Was it really necessary for you to print his name when so many others remain anonymous in Patch "crime" articles? I think this needs to be addressed. Thanks for the clarification, Joe.

Patricia February 15, 2013 at 05:54 pm

It is the responsibility of the Police Department not the media, to release or withhold information. And there is a well defined criteria for what information is released to the media.

JOE February 15, 2013 at 11:52 pm

@patricia, there may be a well defined criteria for releasing information, but it doesn't seem as though its being utilized very well. I have witnessed this for myself. A friend of mine was arrested a few months back, and while in police custody he explained to the arresting officer that if his name was released in the Patch that he would very likely loose his job. The officer then assured my friend that his name would not show up in any articles, printed or online. Well what do you know... a few days later there was an article in the Patch with his name, age, address, and every detail about the arrest. He subsequentially did loose his job because of this. Contained in the same article 4 or 5 other arrests were also being reported on, most of them were more severe charges than what my friend was being charged with, and no other names were released. You say it is the resonsibility of the police to release or withhold information, but this seems quite irresponsible.

Patricia February 16, 2013 at 02:04 am

Joe, I agree, I don't think anyone's name should be released in regards to an arrest until they are convicted. People (the general public) love to read names in the paper or media and until that changes it will continue.

Krista Madsen (Editor) February 16, 2013 at 02:08 pm

@Patricia, you're right, it's the police who release names or not, though I'm faced with two different standards between our two departments (SH and TT) and thus some seeming inconsistency.

Aintthatascam February 16, 2013 at 06:36 pm

Both Departments practice double standards and selective enforcement Depending on who's on duty, depends on how helpful they will be.
Call either one of these Departments and most of the time you get the feeling you are bothering them, like they have so MUCH to do!

jonah February 17, 2013 at 03:00 pm

@Aintthatascam, yeah if you have ever had to go into either police station, you will get the same cheerful hospitality. They totally act like you're bothering them by being there!

JOE February 17, 2013 at 03:14 pm

@krista, the issue I have with all of this is why would a police officer tell someone that he would make sure that the arrestee's name would not be released, and then turn around and release his name anyway? What motivation would the officer have to do that? I'd be willing to bet that this isn't the first time something like this has happened. It's things like this that make people loose trust and respect for the police.