Steve Mensing, Editor
♦Salisbury Police Chief Rory Collins’ 12/5/13 letter to the editor of the Rowan Free Press concluded as follows: “I am requesting that you post a retraction about such activity [the 'Knockout Game'] having occurred in Salisbury. I am further requesting that you refrain from making posts regarding this matter in the future.”
Rory, where do I start with such a request?
• Such a request is likely groundbreaking in the history of our Police Department, let alone any police department in the United States. What police chief has ever sent an officer out to a reporter’s house to require the reporter to justify his news report? Chief Collins sent Detective Todd Sides out to my home for that very purpose. Most people would view this visit as a break with the First Amendment or maybe even a way to close the lid on Salisbury’s often unreported simple assaults.
• It’s unusual for a police chief to assume the discretionary power to control the speech rights of the news media through his administrative and investigative position? I’m unaware of any incident of any police chief, in any American jurisdiction, who sent a “cease and desist” letter to the news media for their reporting? In the 1951 case, Kunz v. New York, the United States Supreme Court ruled that administrative persons lack the discretionary power to control the speech rights of others. Doing so is an un-Constitutional prior restraint on First Amendment free speech.
• Look I’m a skeptic when it comes to the city of Salisbury’s spin on reality. So I’m asking this question: how does the investigation of “police reports filed in Salisbury” cause Chief Rory Collins, or WBTV to conclude that the absence of incident reports (reports prepared by police officers) leads to the declaration that “it’s totally false and there has never been a single reported case of the ‘Knock Out Game’ being played in Salisbury”?
My apologies to Chief Collins in advance, but Chief, you surely know that your officers do not file incident reports on simple assaults, and they more frequently tell complaining witnesses that unless it was a felonious assault, they need to “go to the magistrate’s office”. People in law enforcement know that. Then once at the magistrate’s office, the magistrate tells the victims they cannot file a private warrant unless they know the identity and the address of their assailant(s). Your assertion that there has never been a “reported case” of the knockout game in Salisbury bends reality through restricting the meaning of “reported case” to those where your own officers chose to generate an incident report. Keep in mind the 911 dispatch system is no longer under the City of Salisbury’s control. We’re seeking those assault calls for Salisbury and while they no doubt won’t be called the Knockout Game, they’ll be called simple assaults.
•The Rowan Free Press stands by our staff reports on the “Knockout Game” or otherwise hereabouts called “simple assaults”. These random assaults happen here. The article was dying for lack of interest until you brought it back to life with your letter, posted on WBTV. As for the Rowan Free Press article creating a copycat crime–it’s difficult to envision that happening because our articles are read largely by mature individuals, not given to impulse or lack of forethought. I doubt if we’ll be posting more articles on this subject so your admonishment asking us to “refrain from making posts regarding this matter in the future” has arrived after our decision not to do follow up stories on the national phenomena.
The Rowan Free Press supports our law enforcement officers on the beat. They do a super job of protecting our citizens, and their services are more appreciated now than at any time in our city’s history, due to the growth of violent crime as reported by the FBI.
The Rowan Free Press knows the difference between the assaults for which you choose to generate an incident report, and the reports coming into 911 dispatch of assaults that never get committed to writing. If they’ve never were “reported”, then how would the true picture skew the FBI statistics?
Let’s see what the most recent FBI Database says about crime and assaults for Salisbury:
What the FBI says about very high per capita violent and property crime rates:
Chief Collins Letter:
Dear Mr. Mensing,
Upon becoming aware of the information you posted on the Rowan Free Press site, as well as the information which has been posted on Facebook regarding the topic of “The Knockout Game,” I, as the Chief of Police for the City of Salisbury, North Carolina, became immediately concerned. As the staff member specifically charged with the responsibility of leading our police department and striving to protect our community, I was unaware of any incidents having occurred, within the city limits of Salisbury, like those you’ve described.
After researching the investigative files within my department’s database, as well as meeting with members of our Criminal Investigations Division, I was able to confirm that we had not been called upon to investigate any incidents like those described as being “The Knockout Game.” For this reason, I assigned the supervisor of my Criminal Investigations Division to visit with you on Tuesday, December 3, 2013. The purpose of this visit was to attempt to learn from you the information process, and for which you have posted on the world wide web, concerning potentially felonious criminal activity that has allegedly occurred within our legal jurisdiction. If, in fact, these incidents had indeed occurred, as posted, not only was an investigation appropriate, it was also crucial for the protection of our community. During this visit, however, you were found to be unaware of any specific incidents that had occurred which would fit the description of “The Knockout Game.” You did tell the visiting supervisor of a situation, which had occurred during the past summer, in which you encountered a man who had been assaulted at the intersection of Fulton Street and Monroe Street. This man, who reportedly did not know his assailants, did not want the police involved in this matter and my officers were not called. In fact, we’ve been unaware of the incident until the discussion on December 3rd.
Based upon the fact that our agency has not received any reports involving activity like those you’re described within your posts, and considering the fact that no trend of this sort has actually occurred, as indicated within your posts, I am requesting that you post a retraction about such activity having occurred in Salisbury. I am further requesting that you refrain from making posts regarding this matter in the future. I make these requests for several reasons. Though this activity has occurred within larger jurisdictions in the north, the fact remains that this activity has not occurred here, making the information inaccurate. Also, the posting of this type of information can lead to the high possibility of individuals, who had never considered doing this before, deciding to give it a try. It is a known fact that copycat incidents occur frequently after an incident becomes publicized, as your posts have. Finally, I make these requests due to the fact that the publishing of such information causes significant undue fear within the citizens of our community, as well as those who have a desire to visit, or even perhaps move into our community.
Your cooperation and prompt attention to this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Rory B. Collins, Chief of Police
Kenny Lane Weighs in:
