I’m seeking feedback on this one, so if I have any readers out there (Anybody? Hello?) please leave your thoughts.
Huntsville police sent the following news release today at 2:58 p.m. Take a look at it first, then read the rest of my post:
According to the statement, these kidnappings began six weeks ago. No information was officially released until today. Police said this man allegedly forced the women into their own cars at gunpoint, making them drive to ATMs and withdraw cash. One of the woman was forced (again, at gunpoint) to give the alleged kidnapper oral sex, hence the sodomy charge. (Don’t worry; it’s a link to the state’s definition of sodomy.)
When I spoke to an officer about this, he initially said, “I’m surprised you haven’t already called me about this.” I check the police reports every day, Monday through Friday, and have not seen the kidnapping reports. If I had, I would have checked into this sooner.
Police said the circumstances were usual: The first kidnapping occurred in October, the second a few weeks later. Officers set up a detail to catch the man, then several more kidnappings occurred in short span (I’m told two to three days). Officers arrested a man on unrelated charges but believed he could be the robber. That’s why they didn’t release the information, according to a spokesman. The spokesman also said, “If we had put it out, he would have quit.”
Does the police department have an obligation to make sure the public is aware of such kidnappings? If the information was released sooner, would some of the victims have thought twice before getting out of their cars while a lone man crossed the parking lot? I can’t count the times I got out of my car at my apartment complex, during the hours the kidnapper struck (8 to 11 p.m.), while a man I didn’t know walked across the parking lot. I’m always cautious, of course, but I’m not paranoid. I had no reason to think twice about getting out of my car.
As a reporter, I wish I would have known about these kidnappings sooner. But as a woman, it alarms me that this information wasn’t revealed until today. Thoughts, anyone?
Honestly, my initial reaction was, “No, the media has an obligation to follow up on police reports,” until I got to the end of your post. It seems odd that the officer didn’t know that the reports hadn’t been released, but I don’t know how that works.
I wonder which of the women was sexually assaulted? By that, I mean the first or the last woman who was robbed. I see the police department’s point about not wanting to release information so they could catch the guy, but I don’t like the idea of the female population of an entire city being used as bait to catch a criminal, and potential rapist. (I’m sorry, it may legally be sodomy, but it’s rape.)