SPECIAL REPORT: Behind the scene of a crime
Madeline Murray
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – Some people in the community may feel that information can be left out of a press release, but this is not an accident.
When a crime occurs most people want answers fast, but the Yuma Police Department (YPD) can only release certain information to protect the integrity of the case.
“We put out the basic information, just to tell the public, ‘Hey, this crime happened, but we can’t tell you a lot about it because we don’t know at that point, and we want the general public to know, your safety is not in jeopardy,'” says Sgt. Lori Franklin, YPD Public Information Officer.
YPD decides what they can and can’t release to the general public based on what could harm the case.
Releasing too much information could jeopardise the ongoing investigation by the suspect not being charged or even creating a bias jury.
Sgt. Franklin explains, “It’s me sitting down and talking with the detectives, saying, ‘Is this going to hurt the case?’ ‘Is this going to hurt the case?’ ‘Can we say this?’ ‘Can we say this?’ So, it’s kind of like a group effort of what we can actually put out there.”
Franklin says naming a suspect would give them the upper hand.
“We may have a suspect vehicle or a suspect description or a suspect itself, if we release that information, and maybe they know it, they could flee, we’re very close to another country, we could lose them or they could hide the evidence that we need,” Franklin explains.
YPD says the only time names will be stated in a press release are if someone is physically arrested and booked into jail or if they have died.
Franklin says they will put out the information they have, but not unless YPD has the facts to back it up.
Press releases will always be released for homicides, aggravated assaults, and serious fatal accidents, but there are some cases they do not report on, like domestic violence and suicides.
In cases like these its important to highlight the steps taken at the scene of a crime.
Sgt. Nickolas Davis, Supervisor of Property Crimes and Intelligence Unit says, “When investigations first gets on the scene of a crime, we need to get the information that patrol has been made aware of from their initial response.”
Investigations learns the steps patrol has taken, information they have learned about the crime, and who the parties involved are, in order to know what to do next.
From there the department will collect evidence, take photos of the scene, run forensic tests, look for cameras in the area, and interview all parties involved.
Once they have collected enough information, the department will discuss what they have all learned, and divide up tasks.
Sgt. Davis says an investigation isn’t just something that happens over night, it could take up to months or years for certain cases to close.
“Anywhere from weeks, months, years…In some cases, if we’re waiting for laboratory results from the DPS lab, you know, we’re one of many agencies in the state that all send our forensic evidence to the DPS lab, so that may take several weeks or months to get the results back,” Davis describes.
YPD says they are doing the best they can to solve the crimes in this community and they ask for patience and to let them do their job and they will get the information out to the community.