Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Charlie's Communication Crusade--A Good Idea

Yesterday, Charlie had a segment in which it was made clear that MPD's lack of "communication skills" was a problem. Today, he has a segment which points out that the Walworth County Sheriff's Office may have the same lacuna.

The MPD situation came to light in Stingl's column. Some high-school athletes were on their way to practice. Someone reported seeing "a gun." A detective and a number of squads responded; the kids were stopped at gunpoint, ordered to the ground, searched, and quizzed. About 10 minutes later, they were released.

MPD response?

"The chief is aware of the incident and we are looking into it," said Anne E. Schwartz, spokeswoman for the Milwaukee Police Department.

Stingl was unable to contact the officers.

What's significant is this: nowhere is it mentioned that the officers 'splained the situation to the kids. Maybe they did. Maybe they didn 't.

It would have been a very, very good thing if the officer-in-charge had told the kids WHY they were stopped. Kids get it, you know...

In the Walworth County situation, a deputy shot the family pet. Again, there's no explanation; here's the statement:

A captain at the sheriff's department said they'll release the information once they've completed the internal investigation.

Maybe there WAS a reason the deputy shot the dog. We certainly don't know it now.

Charlie's right: it helps to talk now and then. He oughta know from talking...

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