Eyewitness information is often critical to police and judicial actions. But not only is it unreliable … it’s notoriously unreliable.
Wilson had worked late Friday stuffing envelopes for a membership drive for the Western Tennis and Fitness Club in Covedale, where he is part-owner and general manager. Just hours before, he had bought a new maroon Honda Accord. With him in the car were three of his four children, plus one of their friends.
Wilson hurried into the Dalton Avenue post office in Queensgate to drop off the letters, but when he returned to the car and opened his trunk, two of his children surprised him after sneaking into it from the backseat using the trunk’s “pass-through” area. “I said, ‘You guys get back in the back seat,’ ” Wilson said Saturday.
He jumped back in the car and, because it was new to him, stepped on the gas too hard and left the area too fast.
Those events, witnessed by U.S. Postal Service employees, led them to believe Wilson was abducting the children and trying to leave in a hurry.
Which was then followed by calls to the Cincinnati police, an Amber Alert, video footage of the “perp” showing up on the news, and much general brouhaha.
Of course, the police are often in a bind in things like this. In cases like this, an Amber Alert was issued in error. But if you wait until you have facts confirmed …
Earlier Friday, police were criticized by the family of 20-month-old Aliyah Myrick for not issuing an Amber Alert about her disappearance until 3 a.m. Friday, six hours after her mother called police to say her estranged husband had grabbed the girl and ran. The child was found dead about 10 a.m. Friday in a Mount Auburn park.
So maybe it’s better to be safe than sorry — but it’s worth remembering that just because someone saw it doesn’t mean that it actually happened.
(via BoingBoing)
This is an amazing example of the subjectivity of how we interpret events. You see a man angrily slam the lid on two children in the trunk of his car, then speed away. What other interpretation could there possibly be? He’s a kidnapper! Call the cops!