Hysteria and Blame Replaced Mourning

[PFlynn]

Last week, Rachel Morningstar Hoffman died tragically, allegedly killed by two suspected drug dealers. Her family deserved a time for mourning, reflection and retrospection.

But there was no time to spare for anyone to mourn, reflect or retrospect. There was news to create, headlines to hunt, and a public to panic.

It was time to alarm the tennis players, coaches, children and parents who use the recreational and athletic facilities at Forestmeadows, where the young woman was reportedly abducted. It was time to alarm those who jog, hike, walk or bike through or near the park.

The Tallahassee Police Department has been sucker-punched for its attempts to halt hysteria and prevent public panic. TPD had to dispel the notion that another menacing figure like Gary Hilton was seeking victims like Cheryl Dunlap. TPD knew that Tallahassee recreation areas were not under siege and that another serial killer was not lurking. It was time to allay fears, not feed them. But TPD would be maliciously maligned in days to come. TPD would be attacked for revealing details about Ms. Hoffman, and blamed for "leading a lamb to slaughter." Procedures would be questioned. Public officials would suggest that TPD may have made mistakes.

Over the weekend, TPD faced more media madness. Lawyers. News conferences. Lengthy statements. Loaded questions. Fleeting fame. Agitators came out of the woodwork. Activists spoke out against TPD and decried the failures of the war on drugs. Drug decriminalization reformers cried out. Andy Warhol would have been proud of the media circus as well as the fame-seekers.

There was little concern that TPD feared jeopardizing an ongoing investigation into the murder of Ms. Hoffman, or other investigations, other confidential informants and other undercover narcotics officers.

In my criminal defense practice, it is abundantly clear that confidential informants have become a fact of life in both state and federal investigations. Despite the intense focus on TPD's use of confidential informants, far too little has been mentioned about the number of lives lost to drugs, the number of drug-related crimes taking place daily in our community, the number of folks affected by drug addiction, the necessity of stopping drug-related crimes, and the obligation to protect all citizens from the multiple dangers associated with illegal drugs.

How much easier is it to rush to judgment about TPD. Investigations take time. Evaluating procedures takes time. Third-party oversight takes time. Encumbering ourselves with all the necessary facts takes too much time. Leveling blame does not.

Rachel Hoffman's mother has taken steps to form a foundation to honor her daughter's memory in a positive way. That foundation would seek to require that confidential informants seek legal advice before consenting to undercover work and would seek to decriminalize marijuana convictions.

Now that Ms. Hoffman has been laid to rest, maybe the time has come for true mourning, reflection and retrospection.



Source: Tallahassee Democrat (FL)
Copyright: 2008 Tallahassee Democrat
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