Sob Story For The Crooks

November 1, 2008

GALVESTON - The headline in the local Saturday morning paper read, "Man accused of shooting at cop recounts arrest." It's the second sob story within a week about a local thug that had another, not unusual, run-in with local cops. Two days ago the same paper interviewed the wife of this character who naturally accused police of beating her poor, defenceless husband.
The stories are dramatic and they may sell one or two papers, but they are one-sided and don't come close to telling what happened the morning officer Chad Powers had occassion to try to stop Courtney Terrell Jones a few minutues after midnight and he sped away when he saw the red lights in his rear view mirror. Typical criminal reaction. It's the 'deer in the headlights' syndrome.
We know what really happened that morning and we know what the police did in the follow-up investigation. This is the side-of-the-story that the public does not hear about because the police are bound by the rules-of-evidence. They can't sit out on the front porch and blab to some reporter because they must later go to court and make their case. It's one thing to tell some sob story to a reporter, and it's another to prove it in court. The police are about proving it in court.
The paper has reported over and over that police have "accused" Jones of shooting at the officer. They have not. The police have never said he shot at anyone, and so far he has not been charged with shooting at the officer or anyone else. There was a statement made by a police captain that Powers, "Thought he heard a gunshot." That's it. He didn't say the officer saw Jones with a gun, or saw Jones shoot a gun, or even saw the flash of a gun. So where does the press come up with the statement that the police accused him of shooting at the officer? It's drama, it's spin, it's selling papers, and it's inflaming a situation for a police department that is already beat and battered by a hurricane and another recent press beating over the Bradon Backe hullabaloo at a swank seawall hotel club.
The point is, when these type stories are reported, people should take them with a grain of salt until all the facts come out. Police are always restricted in what they can and cannot say about these cases, but the media can allege anything by spin or inuendo.
So far Jones has been charged with evading arrest. He has not been accused of shooting at the police. That charge would be Assault To Murder A Police Officer, a much more serious charge than Evading Arrest. And when police 'accuse' someone of something, unlike the press, they have to be able to back it up in court.
One can support the local paper by buying a copy for a buck, but supporting your local police doesn't come from the pocketbook.