More details emerged yesterday about a 25-year-old man who authorities say provided police with false information last week in the shooting death of Officer Chuck Cassidy, thereby wasting police efforts in the hunt for the slain officer's killer.Almost immediately after Chuck's killer - John Lewis - was arrested in Miami, the local media went back to what they do best: attack the police. Stories started to come out all asking the same question:
Shawn Williams, charged with obstruction of justice and related offenses, apparently knew Cassidy, who had assisted in disputes Williams had with an ex-girlfriend, a source said.
On Nov. 1 - the day after a gunman shot Cassidy in a West Oak Lane Dunkin' Donuts - Williams spoke to homicide detectives and gave them the name of a former Germantown High classmate and football player and swore in a signed written statement and videotaped statement that this other man had shot Cassidy.
The Daily News is not identifying the other man because he was falsely accused.
Williams told police that at 10:29 a.m. Oct. 31, he drove this other man to the Dunkin' Donuts and waited in the car while the other man went in, according to the police arrest report. Williams then said he "heard a gunshot, and [the other man] ran back to the automobile and got in," the report says. "After getting into the auto, [the other man] stated, 'Go! Go! I just shot a cop.' "
Based on that and other information, police interviewed the man named by Williams as the shooter. They then discovered that Williams' story was false.
Johnnie L. Williams said afterward that his son had been "kidding" when he told his ex-girlfriend he was the shooter's driver - just to see if she would believe him. (H/T - The Philadelphia Daily News)
Why can't the police put this much effort into every homicide?You can read the answer to that question above.
You see, we deal with this kind of nonsense from the public on a daily basis. Either no one wants to cooperate in the investigation, or, when they do, they always have a separate agenda - as Mr. Williams had. Williams wasted everyone's time because he wanted to look like a big shot in front of his girlfriend. (And the fact that being involved in a cop killing is seen as being a badge of honor is truly disturbing.)
The fact of the matter is that our homicides put a tremendous amount of work into every single homicide, but all of that effort will only get you so far. Thanks to the "Stop Snitchin'" attitude so prevalent on the streets of Philadelphia, the clearance rate is much lower than it should be.
And that kind of attitude helps no one.
No comments:
Post a Comment