Overreaction Fallout
- In the last five days, Chicago police have released 11 alerts to the media about residents who have been reported missing.
[...] The seeming flurry of reports comes after questions about why no information was released to news outlets about the disappearance of 12-year-old Jahmeshia Conner, who was found strangled Nov. 30 in a South Side alley two weeks after she was reported missing.
Department officials said Monday that they had slightly altered procedures on media alerts.
Previously, only one shift released the alerts to news outlets, typically by e-mail.
But the news affairs office has started releasing the "Critical Reach" alerts on each of its three shifts, department spokesman [...] said.
And here's the fallout:
- National experts say the media can play a critical role in locating a missing person, but discretion should be used.
"If you put out an alert for every child, the alerts are not going to work anymore," said Cindy Rudometkin of the Polly Klaas Foundation.
"People will become desensitized."
Why would they become desensitized?
- In 2009, there have been 16,000 people reported missing in Chicago.
The clearance rate for those cases is more than 95 percent, police said.
And Jahmeshia was one of 15 children age 12 and under who disappeared in November.
All of the other children have returned home safely.
So our numbers of a few days ago were pretty much right on. We speculated that between 10,000 and 20,000 people went missing and the clearance rate was well over 90%. BreakingNews reports that all the other kids returned safely on their own. We aren't expecting the media to ask the next logical question - why are they returning home safe and unharmed and why aren't parents being charged with a crime?
Has anyone ever read the order on missing persons? It says that anyone can report a "victim" missing, even if they have no direct knowledge that the "victim" is actually missing. That means we could walk into any district station and report J-Fed missing and the desk crew is required by general order to fill out a missing person report. How screwy is that?
Has anyone ever read the order on missing persons? It says that anyone can report a "victim" missing, even if they have no direct knowledge that the "victim" is actually missing. That means we could walk into any district station and report J-Fed missing and the desk crew is required by general order to fill out a missing person report. How screwy is that?
Labels: department issues
posted by SCC at 12:32 AM
38 Comments:
We could report more than one detective area chief missing and we wouldn't be wrong.
One, in particular, is called the 'absentee landlord' by the bosses downtown.
We should be so lucky for JFed to turn up missing.
Although I hesitate to talk shit about him since the 4 and 2 hot passed.
Masters masters masters
Has anyone reported J-Feds brain as missing?
Had to laugh tonight; channel 7 newsreader sounded genuinely bewildered as to why he was reading a script of 'Chicago Police are looking for 13yr old whoever...'
No special circumstances. Vague, unremarkable clothing description, and that was it. Stupid waste of resources, and, like the milk cartons, no one will pay attention as time goes on.
But if someone reported J-Fed missing, would anyone really care? I mean, except his cats? And Ray H and the rest of The Policy Group?
They are bound by law to take a missing report as of Jan 2009
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/12/cops-search-for-missing-west-side-girl.html
from the comments:
"tiredofthenonsense on December 7, 2009 10:42 AM
A suggestion for the media on managing these many "missing person" alerts from the police:
Feature a brief write-up and photo (as above).
Then move all of the missing persons alerts to a listing similar to the format of "Mugs in the News" listing. Name it something like "Missing Persons Alerts." There would be photos to flip through with a link to the brief write-up (similar to "Mugs in the News" format).
Keep the missing persons reports in the alert listing for at least two months.
That way, everyone is treated the same."
honest idea, though lacking in understanding of:
1. if the media did this, that would mean that the media would be providing a true public service.
the media, however, do not consider themselves to be in the business of serving the public.
2. while there would, hopefully, be a large percentage of the public that would utilize the suggested listings to help locate the missing minor, there would also be a certain percentage that would see these listings as useful for a variety of quite different purposes.
3. the unintended consequences of such an endeavor, if applied to every reported missing minor aged person, would likely also include the very desensitization effect that the time proven policies were created to prevent.
4. as for the commenter's implied assumption that "everyone" isn't "treated the same", well, what can one expect from those whose primary source of information and understanding of the real world comes from 'the media'?
Someone needs to file missing person report on US attorney Fitzgerald.
"hat means we could walk into any district station and report J-Fed missing and the desk crew is required by general order to fill out a missing person report. How screwy is that?"
sounds like it would be fun.
any citizen volunteers?
"People will become desensitized."
Standard psychology, meaning that once people are conditioned to something it stops being effective. Like a car alarm, for example. If your neighbor's car alarm goes off every night, rather than never and then once, you are less likely to pay attention to it.
Don't know if she should be applying that to your circumstances, but I think that's what she meant.
If you reported J-Fed (and his ethics) missing, would you be charged with filing a false police report?
How about Masters?
I want answers! My juvinile daughter came home 3 hours late the other day, and I didn't see her mug on the TV once. I also didn't have Bobby Rush advocte for me.
Now ain't dis sum shit.
That's what happens when you don't promote detectives in over 2 years. They are short handed and over run with paper work. Detectives continue to retire every year and the department is not filling the void!
I once reported Waldo missing.
The youth Dick called my house, "Where's Waldo?" he says.
"I don't know."
We could report more than one detective area chief missing and we wouldn't be wrong.
One, in particular, is called the 'absentee landlord' by the bosses downtown.
12/08/2009 12:36:00 AM
What is a detective area chief? The detective division has about 7 or 8 cdrs, 2 deputy chiefs and one chief. Never heard of a detective area chief. Is it in the new budget? I would hope someone that claims to know what the upper level management is gossiping about would know their titles.
Ok let's have a missing person channel on cable. We can show all the missings 24-7 and in between they can have sponsor commercials from moo and oink and Harolds along with Fifty Cent videos.
Maybe this info was never released publicly because they didn't want people to know the race of the missings. I hope when they are found they also print where and with whom they were found so they know what a waste of time this is. Most of these kids just think they are grown and/or want to escape their home-life. This is the reality of it. Parents should be held responsible for their children. How many of them bother looking? I know of at least one habitual that I handled several times and mama said she didn't want to look because she is afraid because her daughter runs with the gangs. Gimme a Break!
Please promote some detectives!!! We're down hundreds!!
THIS IS OUR CHANCE TO GET THE MEDIA!!!
Send them a flyer on all missing persons. Every one.
If any one of them turns up dead, the police can say they sent it and the media didn't report it.
Then we can say they probably didn't report it because the missing person was black.
Does the city really want to know how many black children go missing every day?
I don't know why they're all bitching. When my daughter was a teenager I would have paid her to run away for a few days.
To the 03:14 poster, we already have that on the chicago police web site and apparently the Supt. didn't remind people to go there to look up information on missing persons or tell the media to. The city that works.
The media is digging itself into its own hole on this thing because every day they will be showing the faces of 'missing' black children. This won’t look right after a few days, particularly to those who only want to present the unreal world. Move over welfare, crime, unwed baby mama, incest, and dropouts, yet another big problem is moving into the crib.
What is a missing juvenile ? He is a runaway who probably runs away twice a week and the parents report him missing because they fear they'll go to jail. The missing returns home on his own after a couple of days of staying with friends and than has no where to go except back home. The parents have an out of control child but have no resources to correct this behavior. The cycle continues and the Detectives clear the missing report. What a waste.
Actually Missing reports are no longer generated at the desk. The report is upposed to be initiated from the missings residence.
I'm still laughing about the retired dicks story about the parent that did not have a picture of the missing 16yo. and showed up the next day with a hand drawn picture of a stick person!!!! Unreal...Yet so real!!!!
FLASH!!!!
City releases 2,000 'New Missing Persons' they forgot about.
Can they give me a list of all the HOT license plates?
I want to be ready for the New Tact Team Tryouts!
What is a detective area chief? The detective division has about 7 or 8 cdrs, 2 deputy chiefs and one chief. Never heard of a detective area chief. Is it in the new budget? I would hope someone that claims to know what the upper level management is gossiping about would know their titles.
12/08/2009 09:15:00 AM
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Sorry, Area COMMANDER, sir; didn't mean to offend you. Occasionally, there's a glass or two of holiday cheer mixed in at posting time. And I don't "claim" to know what they're saying. I know.
Anonymous said...
Actually Missing reports are no longer generated at the desk. The report is upposed to be initiated from the missings residence.
12/08/2009 06:08:00 PM
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says who? the desk people?
A few years ago, and presently a retired SVU Detective, we would ask parents for photo's of there children. We would make a home visit for this request and have the parents sign a few forms for publication, would you believe that the only photo manyof these parents would have was the 8th grade gradulation photo still in the picture frame. They would remove the photo from the frame and give you a photo 8 by 12 with the cape and gown photo of the child. As someone previously wrote " So unreal but real ".
Don't give the people that missing persons report at the desk and watch how fast you get that cr# for not doing your job.
I posted this somewhere before, but it seems the media tends to ignore some things.
Why would anyone put a 12 year old on a bus in that neighborhood at 8PM and have no one the other end waiting to walk her home.
AND THE FAMILY HAS THE NERVE TO COMPLAIN??????
Wish J-Fed would go missing. For good and take shortshanks and the alderthieves with.
I am almost sure there is a missing report on file for J-Feds balls.
"I am almost sure there is a missing report on file for J-Feds balls.
12/09/2009 06:28:00 PM"
under 'mickey and minnie'?
Actually Missing reports are no longer generated at the desk. The report is upposed to be initiated from the missings residence.
--Bull. I tell them to go in and make the report. The desk can make notifications.
Can they please tell us where and with whom the little darlings are found?!?
SCC - looks like you were on the money in your post about where these kids are. I'm also glad they are letting the public know.
A teen has been charged with criminal sexual abuse and harboring a runaway after police found a 14-year-old girl — missing for more than a month — in his South Side Englewood home on Tuesday.
Charles Strong, 19, is charged with a felony count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and one count each of of harboring a runaway and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, both misdemeanor charges, according to police News Affairs.
Christine Harris went missing from the 2600 block of South Martin Luther King Drive Nov. 7, according to an alert from Wentworth Area detectives. On Wednesday, Wentworth Area Special Victims Unit detectives acted on a tip they received concerning Christine’s whereabouts and found her in Strong’s home in the 6500 block of South Oakley Avenue, police said.
He was arrested about 5:15 p.m.
Strong is scheduled for a bond hearing Thursday.
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