Police Search For Suspects After July 4th Stabbing

Pat July 7, 2012 at 02:53 pm

Description of 3 women and 1man seems vague!

Penny Riordan (Editor) July 7, 2012 at 04:16 pm

Hi Pat, the only other detail that police released was the race, but as a policy Patch (and most media outlets) don't include race in our stories unless there are other distinguishing characteristics.

john doe July 8, 2012 at 12:44 pm

3 black women 1 black man, they were driving a mid to early 90s 4 door honda accord. the person they stabbed is one of my best friends and he almost died. His lung collapsed because a coward stabbed him with a pocket knife. We need to catch these people who are dirtying up our town. I know that unfortunately, 4th of July in catonsville will never be the same for my group of friends.

Windriver July 8, 2012 at 03:55 pm

They were black! It was a random attack on whites as we have seen throughout the nation. They are empowered by the man in the WH and the JustUs Dept.

Windriver July 8, 2012 at 03:58 pm

The victim was a good friend of my son. He is not a guy looking for trouble and he is a small man who would never do something stupid to bring on this type of reaction form these animals. He was defending his cousin who was jumped by these simians. We see these random attacks on whites by blacks all over the country. Wait to see what they do when Obama loses the election in Nov. Be prepared people. You and your families are next.

Chuck July 8, 2012 at 11:23 pm

When facts are intentionaly obfuscated in a story, (like race of assailaints) you lose credibility. A pity.

sk July 9, 2012 at 02:42 pm

Are comments on the Patch website a good representation of how Catonsville residents feel, or are only the racists commenting?

Windriver July 9, 2012 at 03:21 pm

Are these black on white attacks we see nationally a good representation of how black residents feel, or are only the racists attacking whites

Mike McAuliffe July 9, 2012 at 10:52 pm

Penny, A small article ran in the Arbutus Patch this past Friday where a person was arrested while breaking into a recycling scrap yard. The perpetrator's skin tone (actually a skin color) was referenced. This seems to go against Patch's policy. Including skin tone of the arrested was superfluous info. Patch at one time stated that skin color was included only when it may aid in the police investigation. Patch reporters should be a bit more consistent on applying their policy. Along with omitting from police reports a person's skin tone and/ or ansestral origins (Hispanic, Asian,etc.), why not omit the person's gender too. Why do you include the words male and female? Does the inclusion of gender deserve any more attention than color?

Gina July 10, 2012 at 02:29 am

Penny I have to say that's a pretty absurd policy! If there was a bank robbery and they were looking for the suspect and it was a white male, would you say that or would you guys just say: "The BOA was robbed today but in an effort to be politically correct we cannot give you a description of the robber!" The color of someone's skin is just another distingishing charateristic of a person, no different then their hair/eye color, height or weight. I am sure that if you mentioned they were black the same people would have commented about how race plays a part in our community however by not mentioning it someone who might have seen something doesn't know that they did. The females and a male in a Honda Accord is pretty random however maybe someone saw 3 black females and 1 black male pull into 7-11 by being more specific you are narrowing down the suspects then that witness can let police know and police can check the 7-11 cameras. The color of someones skin is always going to cause conflict however it is something that narrows down the search and is something that should be included. It's only racist when you make it racist, including someone's race is a distinguishing characteristic that seperates them from the rest of the male population, it isn't racial profiling it's stating a fact!

Gina July 10, 2012 at 02:36 am

I totally agree Mike. There was also an article a few weeks back in the Arbutus Patch where 3 young "black" males were caught steeling a bike in Arbutus. The boys were caught by the police and that was included in the article. If the person was caught why mention their race when at that point it really doesn't matter, cause they've been caught. Oh the other hand when you are in the process of looking for a suspect you would think they would want to get as much information as possible out including their race so the suspects could be found. Makes sense to me!

Penny Riordan (Editor) July 10, 2012 at 02:43 am

Thanks Mike and Gina, I agree that is consistent! I wasn't aware that Bruce in Arbutus was doing that. I'll bring this up again with our editors.

Mike McAuliffe July 10, 2012 at 03:29 am

It doesn't matter to me if the race of a suspect, or even an already arrested person, is mentioned in the articles, it just has to be consistent within the same news outlet. I'm not saying you are right or Bruce is wrong or visa versa. Just adhere to whatever policy is set. Bruce does a very good job at reporting local happenings. If a report has to stray from the normal policy, stating why in the article can alleviate any suspicions of bias.

Penny Riordan (Editor) July 10, 2012 at 03:06 pm

Agreed Mike. Patch policy is to not include race, unless there are several other details in the description, such as height, weigh, tattoos, hair, clothing, etc. In this report that I received from police, the only other detail we received other than race was mentioned of weight, but that was it. Here's an article that explains why most journalists adhere to this policy: http://www.justicejournalism.org/crimeguide/chapter04/chapter04_pg02.html

Windriver July 10, 2012 at 08:26 pm

If a rabid pit bull is on the loose and has bitten 6 people, is the dogs specie relevant when reporting the story?
Since it is common knowledge that pit bulls bite and attack people quite often it would seem irrelevant to note it under that policy. "Police routinely release descriptions of wanted but unidentified people. Race is almost always part of that description. The question is whether it belongs in your story." This story it WOULD have been relevant since the perpetrators were being looked for at the time.

Windriver July 10, 2012 at 08:28 pm

But the story only had 3 facts, number of people, there sexes and the color and vague model of car they drove. Why was it relevant to list the color of the car and not the perps? (odd that both were the same)