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Patrick
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Username: Patrick

Post Number: 5456
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Friday, June 06, 2008 - 3:06 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I am curious to know why the Free Press never places a physical description of a suspect in an article. Well, were they black? Were they white? Was the guy tall? However, other papers like the Macomb Daily always puts a full physical description in their write ups. Is the Free Press afraid of looking biased?

A good example would be of the recent mob beatings in Mt Clemens. The Free Press basically said that the suspects were young men. They did not give a physical description at all, even though other papers did.
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Rhymeswithrawk
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Username: Rhymeswithrawk

Post Number: 1234
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Friday, June 06, 2008 - 4:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Most credible newspapers will not include a description of a suspect unless it has enough detail to where you could identify the suspect. Case in point, saying the attackers were white doesn't differentiate between the kabillions of other white people and makes every white person a suspect in said crime. What difference does it make if the person is white or black or whatever if you have no clue what the person looks like other than their skin color?

So you need six or so solid descriptions before you include it. Examples: approx. age, gender, height, weight, race, what they were wearing, scars or tattoos, what they were driving.

My guess is the description was not included because the Freep was not given enough to avoid a, well, nondescript, description.
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Macknwarren
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Username: Macknwarren

Post Number: 40
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Friday, June 06, 2008 - 4:38 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I agree with Rhymes. Many newspapers (and TV stations) don't think when they include descriptions. Think about it when you read the next description: Would this help you find the guy they're looking for? Police departments can only work with what they are given by witnesses, and most of the time witnesses (especially in chaotic situations) are not exactly G-Men when it comes to describing perpetrators.
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Flyingj
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Username: Flyingj

Post Number: 203
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Friday, June 06, 2008 - 5:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Patrick, it's P.C. idiocy. My favorite example is when a couple glowering swarthy characters were pulling suspicious shenanigans on a Washington State Ferry, an alert employee took their photos, yet the Seattle P-I refused to run them. That's why I grabbed a few extra Space Needle souvenirs on this last trip because the way those clowns run the town, who knows what will happen?;
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/b ill-hobbs/2007/08/21/seattle-p ost-intelligencer-too-politica lly-correct-assist-probe-possi ble
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J_to_the_jeremy
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Username: J_to_the_jeremy

Post Number: 62
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Friday, June 06, 2008 - 5:26 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think the Free Press could definitely have made an accurate description, seeing as the security camera video was high quality color footage.
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Macknwarren
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Username: Macknwarren

Post Number: 43
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Friday, June 06, 2008 - 6:40 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

J:

How would the description taken off any security camera distinguish someone from, say, tens of thousands of other people in their age, race, gender? If he had a big scar on his face, yes. If he had a tatoo: ditto. But in general, descriptions are useless.
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Johnlodge
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Username: Johnlodge

Post Number: 6980
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Friday, June 06, 2008 - 7:12 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Flyingj, those guys were allegedly "behaving unusually" according to someone, and the FBI wants to question them because they take security on those ferries very seriously. Not a lot of evidence there. You want your picture in a paper about an FBI investigation because someone decided you were "acting unusually"? Not P.C. idiocy, common sense. Except to your off the edge blogger there.
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 6023
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Friday, June 06, 2008 - 7:31 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Rhymes and MackWarren are right on with the questions you need to ask before you release descriptions. If their is not enough information that would help you spot a suspect there is no need to release information that leads to hysteria, especially with our nation's history.

I actually had to write a local news station here because they released only the race of a suspect, which gives you little to nothing in terms of looking for a suspect.

Yes, this isn't political correctness, it's common sense.
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Rhymeswithrawk
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Username: Rhymeswithrawk

Post Number: 1238
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Friday, June 06, 2008 - 7:32 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yeah, Flyingj wouldn't be telling the same story if it was him who had been accused of such a gaffe, whether or not he was guilty.
The point is, if you can't describe the person, what's the point of running it?
Saying only that someone is black or white or Latino doesn't tell you anything.
Saying the person was white, 5'11", about 175 pounds, had a moustache and a tattoo of a mermaid on his forearm tells you what the person looks like.

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