Thursday, March 20, 2008
It's what they don't say that's a concern
Shanna Flowers
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A Roanoke police officer shot an unarmed teenage boy after a traffic stop last month.
The shooting in Northwest Roanoke set off a flurry of letters to this newspaper's opinion page about the dangers of law enforcement and what officers should or should not do in a given situation.
No one disputes the risks of police work. But it's difficult for the public to arrive at a fully informed opinion -- whatever the opinion -- when it doesn't have the basic facts of the shooting.
For that, Roanokers can thank their police department.
More than a month after the Valentine's Day shooting, many questions remain about what exactly occurred when Officer Daniel Meyer pulled over a car in the 2400 block of Maryland Avenue and shot the fleeing driver, Josh Brown, 17.
Last week, I e-mailed department spokeswoman Aisha Johnson with a list of nine questions. She addressed three: the officer remains on administrative leave; she doesn't know when the investigation will be wrapped up; she can't talk about whether the teen, whom she didn't identify, has a criminal record.
Apart from those, "Since the investigation is ongoing, I can't answer additional questions," Johnson wrote in conclusion.
The old saw that goes "silence is golden" must be standard operating procedure at the police department. From lower-profile to more serious incidents, the police have a pattern of holding the public at bay.
According to news reports of last month's shooting, Meyer was patrolling about 10:30 a.m. when he stopped a car because of a registration issue.
Because the investigation is ongoing, Roanokers aren't allowed to know what the registration problem was.
Brown ran from the car and the officer followed him. Meyer lost sight of the teen but spotted him behind a house on nearby Clifton Street. The officer ordered the teen to show his hands and get on the ground.
The teen turned and lowered his hands near his waist and out of the officer's sight. Meyer fired one shot.
Because the investigation is ongoing, the public doesn't know whether the youth was facing the officer or if he had turned away when he lowered his hands.
Because the investigation is ongoing, the public doesn't know whether the officer shot Brown in the front or the back.
Because the investigation is ongoing, the public doesn't know if police found a weapon anywhere near the shooting scene.
I spoke briefly with the teen last week. But he and his family aren't talking either.
Because the investigation is ongoing, the public doesn't know what police found, or didn't find, when they searched the car after the shooting.
Responding to a question during a news conference after the shooting, Chief Joe Gaskins said the shooting victim was "known to police." So I asked Johnson what he meant by that.
She responded in the e-mail, "... I can't talk about anyone's criminal history, or even confirm that an individual has a criminal history," referring to a state law.
So we have Gaskins using winks and code words to suggest Brown isn't a choirboy. But golly, the law prevents police from backing that up with facts.
The Roanoke agency's tight-lipped approach to informing its public in a timely fashion is nothing new. It stands in stark contrast to another recent police shooting, in Roanoke County, when a heavily armed man initiated a shootout with officers.
The city and county shootings aren't comparable -- and neither are the two agency's response to the public.
County police were more forthcoming with details about the contents of the shooter's vehicle and other information that provided a clearer picture of what happened.
That type of information helps taxpayers evaluate the response of officers charged with their safety. It's called accountability.
"Sadly about in every report, I see the infamous words 'The Roanoke City Police Department is investigating the matter,' " an anonymous reader e-mailed The Roanoke Times a few days after last month's shooting.
"Then I hear hardly anything else on 'the matter.' We do not need a Secret Police and Secret Reports on Public Issues."
Mum's the word at the Roanoke Police Department will continue as long as residents sit quietly by and accept police's stock answer.
If residents want to know more, they will have to demand more.
Shanna Flowers' column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Read Shanna's blog, In the Flow.
