And so begins the panic.
Don’t worry, indulge in the fear that’s creeping through the county. Who can blame you. Street gangs are here in Wytheville after all. Right?
Well, maybe, if that’s what you want to call them. More than likely, it’s a bunch of misguided, misunderstood young people doing the things misguided, misunderstood young people have done since such creatures walked the earth.
Wytheville Police Capt. Rick Arnold hints that that’s all, folks, when he said the Wither’s Park bunch was a homegrown “gang.” (Quotation marks ours).
Unfortunately, we can’t know yet if the reported hazing and resulting 22 charges are the delayed coming of New Jack City or panic-mongering from a county government agency with a tendency to take itself too seriously.
The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office, aided and abetted by the police, has sealed the search warrants executed at a 22-year-old’s home.
Arnold says the forced silence is due to fears of retaliation against informants. Fair enough, except that most times when confidential informants are used, the warrants identify them only as such – confidential informants, juvenile one, teacher, etc.
Refusing to allow the public to see what evidence they found to warrant 22 charges against the Wytheville man accused of recruiting gang members and injuring several 12- to 17-year-olds only calls the police and their actions and motives into question. Lest you think the Sheriff’s Office is innocent in all this fear-mongering, both agencies conducted the search after a school resource officer reported gang activity.
The lack of information, which in most cases in the civilized world is open to public access and scrutiny, creates a vacuum and in that vacuum, beware the half-truths, rumors and panicked musings that bloom. If the public could see what law enforcement gathered, we could more accurately judge if this is a true threat or a lot of scary talk.
If it is a threat, and it very well may be, the public has a right to know how big the problem is and how seriously they should take it. They have a right to be informed, prepared and equipped with understanding to defeat any gang activity that might take root. By keeping quiet and hidden, law enforcement has stolen that right and plunged the community into a darkness where guesses and worst-case scenario nightmares are the currencies of the day.
If it isn’t a credible threat, and it very well may not be, the public has the right to know that there’s no reason to run screaming for the nearest handgun dealer.
Either way, law enforcement has not protected the public’s interests and should be held accountable for it, once everything finally sees the light of day.
Just remember, nighttime monsters aren’t half as scary in the light of day. The only thing that looks worse when a little sunlight is splashed on is secretive government agencies. Hopefully, once day dawns, the panic can end.
“Either way, law enforcement has not protected the public’s interests and should be held accountable for it, once everything finally sees the light of day.“
I think you’re crossing the branches of government a bit. It is the prosecutors and court that requested and ordered the evidence be sealed, respectively.
“The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office, aided and abetted by the police, has sealed the search warrants executed at a 22-year-old’s home.“
What are you expecting? The police to go in violation of a court order and release the information? Are you hoping a disgruntled police officer will slip an anonymous letter under your door?
This case involves minors, and their identity needs to be protected. If the public in general were made aware of the identities of the youth that were hanging with this guy then you’d better believe that they would be shunned, and not embraced, by the community.
Now, lets see how many ways you can contradict yourself. I’ll quote the first article, which you just happened to also author, to answer some of your questions.
“Street gangs are here in Wytheville after all. Right?
Well, maybe, if that’s what you want to call them.“
What I want to call them? You’re the one that used the term “street gangs”. Heck, you opened the first article with those two words. You’re the person we heard it from. In your article you don’t provide one single direct quote from law enforcement of them using that phrase. In fact, you state that Capt. Arnold said that they did not appear to be affiliated with any real gangs.
So, let’s compare how you opened the two articles. Last time:
“Street gangs in Wytheville?“
This time:
“And so begins the panic.“
Is that the reaction you were hoping for, a little panic, from asking such a silly question in the first place?
“Arnold says the forced silence is due to fears of retaliation against informants. Fair enough, except that most times when confidential informants are used, the warrants identify them only as such – confidential informants, juvenile one, teacher, etc.“
Okay, so you are now speculating that the informants are anonymous, yet in your previous story you specifically state that the names of the minors are listed in the warrant:
“the search warrant was sealed at the commonwealth’s attorney’s request.
Arnold said that the names of individuals who gave police information in the case were in the search warrant and that investigators feared possible retaliation should their names become public. “
So either you inaccurately paraphrased Capt Arnold the first time, or you are now asserting that he lied. Which is it?
You want freedom of information, yet you rather slyly did not even mention the name of the “22 year old” anywhere in this story. I’ll quote you on that one too just for the sake of completeness: “Robert Allen Remines Jr., 22”
Posted by Dan East from Wytheville, VA on 09/29 at 03:20 PM
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