Crime and Media, Part Two
More coverage has appeared in the local Freeps on the Richmond Row stabbing. In a front-page Freeps article on Tuesday, July 15, we have the following:
“The accused is a prolific offender with dozens of prior convictions,” Truong said in a post Sunday. “He was out on bail at the time of the attack. Thanks to the swift response of our officers, he was quickly identified and taken into custody. He remains there, and we will do everything in our power to contest his release.
“This is not just a policing issue. There are broader societal challenges at play, and we must acknowledge that some individuals, regardless of their circumstances, pose a real and ongoing risk to public safety…”
The Freeps continues to identify the accused only as ‘a 33-year old London man”. It also says he was to appear in court last Friday, and despite the piece appearing the following Tuesday, does not say what happened at that hearing. Was he released? Chief Truong says nothing about that either.
The Freeps article also says that after his March arrest, Dentelbeck ‘wasn’t held for a bail hearing’. I don’t know exactly what that means. Was he simply brought before court, read the charges against him and released? That’s my suspicion. Clearly he was not held in custody for any duration, else he would not have been able to stab Kools’ manager last week.
My favourite quote from the article, as it shows just what sort of politicians the police (and the public) have to deal with, is this one –
Coun. David Ferreira, whose Ward 13 encompasses downtown, said downtown is safe but still has its issues like other cities.
“There’s a lot of people in the downtown area, so with more people . . . you may see higher numbers of certain things happening here and there,” he said. “I don’t really see a difference between downtown and other areas of the city, so of course Richmond Row is safe and there are a lot of people (who) will attest to that.”
To be clear, I spend a lot of time in downtown London, both on Richmond Row and in the core area around the arena. Dundas and Richmond, basically. Obviously, I am not sufficiently worried about my safety that it keeps me away – partly because I am trying to do my bit to keep the assholes from winning. However, Ferreira’s statement that there is no difference between downtown and other areas of the city is pure, unadulterated bullshit. He is either a liar or utterly ignorant. In either case, he should not be a councillor.
On the other hand, Mike Smith, the owner of Kools’ and a long-time business owner in downtown London is quoted as saying he thinks Richmond Row has gotten safer over the last year, and credits the police and Chief Truong for this. That is an opinion I can take seriously.
However, a follow-up article in today’s (Wednesday) Freeps by Jane Sims is titled ‘Richmond Row Stabbing An Anomaly That Could Have Happened Anywhere’.
Well, ‘anomaly’ means a ‘departure from the normal or common order’, so I would certainly hope any stabbing is that. But ‘could have happened anywhere’? Really?
The article consists of a number of quotes from one man – the aforementioned Mr. Smith – and unsupported assertions from Ms. Sims. It seems an obvious attempt to convey the message that things are fine downtown, people should not stay away. I can see why Smith would want to make that point, he has two restaurants operating within throwing distance of the core and two on Richmond Row. He doesn’t want people to avoid going to those. But the Freeps? Perhaps Sims could have made more than one phone call, and talked to more than just one downtown or Richmond Row business owner about how they see the recent history of policing and safety around their businesses. That could have been quite informative.
Ah, but that would take time, effort. The Freeps seems to mostly put time and effort into writing headlines, like ‘Who wants to be in a 3-way?’ (May 30).