After a Saturday evening incident in which 40 to 60 teenagers invaded an Oakland, Calif. rapid transit station, robbing and beating riders, a spokesman for BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) says surveillance videos of the flash-mob robbery will not be made public because people committing crimes appear to be minors. [Demian Bulwa and Michael Cabanatuan, San Francisco Chronicle via Ann Althouse]
7 Comments
A very serious crime like this where the perpetrators are still at large and need to be identified? C’mon now! Release the footage and let their friends turn them in for a reward.
I realize it probably is very bad and would damage the reputation of BART and Oakland, but to not make an effort to solve a crime like this seems irresponsible.
I’m sure the alleged juveniles will behave themselves in the future because they’ve seen the error of their ways.
Regardless of age, they were in public. There is no expectation of privacy in a public place. Unless caught, there is no proof they were minors. Even if minors, there should be consequences for their actions.
As a compromise, BART management could give culprits three days to step forward and have their images obscured on the publicly released surveillance tape. But not to enlist the public to identify the others is a shocking betrayal of public trust.
“The images cannot be shared publicly, she said, because the attackers appear to be minors.”
Good reporting = “Who what where when why…” Yeah, just why is it that these images cannot be shared? A quality news site would ask these questions, but the San Francisco Chronicle may be trying to set itself apart by making statements appear as simple fact, when in reality some deeper explanation is required.
Is there some law preventing minors from committing criminal acts in front of a video camera?
No, I’m sure there’s no such law – but there is a narrative. Have to preserve that at all costs.
“Is there some law preventing minors from committing criminal acts in front of a video camera?”
No. However there are laws in many states placing limits on publicly identifying juvenile suspects/defendants.
http://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2012/03/why-dont-police-identify-juvenile-suspects.html
Babyface nelson? Were they presumed to be or assumed to be? đŸ˜€