What's spooked WSOC and the Lincolnton PD?

What does it mean when two organizations dedicated to publicity suddenly clam up?

Crime Stoppers is a non-profit organization that is supposed to work with citizens, the media and law enforcement to fight crime in communities. The purpose of the media, on the other hand, is to serve as community watchdogs – critical observers of government, digging for the truth and exposing it.

So why has it been like pulling teeth this week to obtain a copy of a Lincoln County Crime Stoppers video that shows surveillance footage of a man, Jamie Miller, who is being sought after by both Lincoln and Iredell County police? Miller is accused of stealing gift cards from a woman in church. The Crime Stoppers video, according to police, captures Miller in a restaurant, using a stolen gift card for his purchase.

Det. Sgt. Matt Painter with the Lincolnton Police Department said Miller has a warrant out for his arrest in Lincoln County and also numerous outstanding warrants in Iredell County.

The Lincolnton Police Department recently released the Crime Stoppers video to WSOC-TV, which broadcast the surveillance footage several times until last weekend.

But it's a second man with Miller in the video that has raised some local suspicion. A growing number of people believe that the man pictured in the surveillance footage with Miller is a high-ranking law enforcement officer in Iredell County.

To determine if that is the case, only the Crime Stoppers video is needed. But obtaining a copy of it from police and the one media outlet that has a copy of it has proven to be quite a struggle.

The law enforcement community often uses Crime Stoppers to work with the mainstream media to broadcast photos and surveillance videos of criminal suspects. The hope is that someone at home reading or watching the news may recognize the suspect and call Crime Stoppers – even anonymously – with tips about the suspects’ whereabouts. “Crime Stoppers programs, through its police coordinators, are an investigative body working with citizens as one crime fighting unit,” states the website of Crime Stoppers of Lincolnton-Lincoln County, Inc. (http://www.lincolncounty.org/index.aspx?NID=421). Crime Stoppers allows callers to remain anonymous but often offers cash rewards for tipsters who provide information that leads to the suspect’s arrest.

But the Lincolnton Police Department, after releasing the Crime Stoppers video of Jamie Miller to WSOC, has apparently decided it won’t share it with anyone else. In fact, Lincolnton’s Sgt. Painter referred the Report to WSOC for a copy of the police surveillance footage. “The only chance you can get … to get a copy of it is either find something online on WSOC (from) when they ran it or if they’ll release something,” Painter said. “You might can call the assignment desk at Channel 9 or something.

“As far as the actual video itself, the raw footage,” he added, “my chief said we can’t release that to anybody.” The reason, he said, is because “we’ve already run it and got an ID (identification). We can’t release (the video) once an ID has been made.”

But that doesn’t make sense. After all, when WSOC broadcast the footage, written in bold, all-capital letters, under a photo of the suspect’s face, was “JAMIE MILLER,” (the suspect’s name – or, in police lingo, his “ID”). In fact, here’s a still-photo captured from one of WSOC’s more recent broadcasts (click the image to enlarge):

The news broadcaster did not state that Crime Stoppers was looking for the suspects’ name – because, after all, his name was Jamie Miller. And police already knew that. Rather, she said that police needed the public’s help in tracking Miller down. In fact, she announced that Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $1,000 for anyone who provides information leading to his arrest.

Miller has not yet been found or arrested, Painter said today.

The Report had already contacted WSOC last weekend to request a copy of the video. But the news desk refused to release the clip, responding to repeated requests for it by stating: “I don’t know what to tell you.” The representative said WSOC adds only “Top Story” videos to its website over the weekend. He said to check back on Monday. So I did. The video still hasn't been added to the website.

Both Painter and WSOC confirmed that they had heard the suspicions about the identity of the second man in the video, but both said that their respective organizations didn’t want to be “in the middle of it.”

When pressed on the issue that several people suspect that the second man in the video is a high-ranking law enforcement officer in Iredell County – who, one would assume, would be aware of the numerous outstanding warrants for Miller’s arrest – WSOC confirmed that people were calling the news station with the same suspicions and concerns. But, still, the station wouldn't agree to share the video.

Lincolnton Police Sgt. Painter encouraged the Report to “go to the source” (the law enforcement agency that employs the officer in question). But without a video, how can that agency confirm or deny whether the man captured in the surveillance is among its officers?

What gives? The Lincolnton Police Department and WSOC have been informed of citizen suspicions that a high-ranking law enforcement officer is aware of the whereabouts of a man with outstanding warrants in two counties. So why are they sitting on their hands?

WSOC – whose job it is, as a member of the media, to dig for the truth and expose it - appears, instead, to be turning its nose up to the truth. In fact, when contacted by the Report, the news station asked if our sources would agree to point out the man in the Crime Stoppers video and confirm he is who he is believed to be. Here's the rub: WSOC would require those sources to go on-camera. Right now, all we have are suspicions because we've seen only quick clips on WSOC's newscasts. Positively identifying the man in the video requires, well, the video. But WSOC refuses to share it.

The Lincolnton Police Department – whose job it is to follow leads and track down people who break the law – is instead telling the Report to “go to the source” to find out if the person with Miller is a law enforcement officer. My response: Happily. But to "go to the source" and ask if the man in the video is who he is suspected to be, I need, well, the video. But the Lincolnton Police Department refuses to share it.

What about WSOC’s intent to “go to the source”? Being the only apparent news organization with the full video clip in-hand, why isn’t the news station "going to the source" itself? Over the weekend, the news desk said that it had received a call from someone denying that the man in the video is who people suspect him to be. A call from whom? Is the news station taking that person’s word for it? And did it not occur to WSOC that it would be odd for someone to deny something that the news station has not accused him of?

If the man in the video isn’t the official he is suspected to be, why the hesitation to share the video? If the man in the video is the official he is expected to be, why the hesitation to share the video?

Once again, something isn't passing the smell test. And while they dig in their heels, all we're left to do is speculate …