Saturday, March 14, 2015

More non-crime in Margaret Menge's CRIME BLOTTER—How could this happen?

A Crime Blotter is much different than an Incident Blotter. A Crime Blotter lists crime and an Incident Blotter lists incidents such as fires, open container violations, and noise complaints, for example.

Week after week Ms. Menge in her Lake Worth Tribune includes non-crimes in her Crime Blotter and one can only speculate why. Is it to fill space? Use creative writing skills to manipulate one into believing a crime was committed? Who knows. Here are two more non-crimes in Ms. Menges Crime Blotter and pay particular attention to the second one below:
Fire: Police responded to the 200 block of North B Street for a report of a fire. The apartments were evacuated. The cause of the fire was found to be a pot that was left on a stove. No foul play was suspected. [emphasis added]
No crime here. Here's another one:
Missing Kid: A grandfather told police that he'd picked his grandson up from Lake Worth High School and dropped him off at home on the 1700 block of 12th Avenue South, but that when he arrived home that evening, he was gone and could not be located. The grandson was described as a white mail [sic, s/b "male"], 6'2".
Again, no crime here. Including this incident in a Crime Blotter is misleading and shouldn't have gotten past the editor. Not that this incident doesn't deserve mention in the paper; it just doesn't merit a mention in a Crime Blotter.

And at 6'2" tall that makes for one really big "Kid"—"Missing Young Man" would be more accurate. On February 27th (Vol.1/Issue 7) Ms. Menge didn't publish a Crime Blotter in her paper at all and that inspired this:
Tomorrow: Editor Behaving Badly. How could it go unmentioned that the vote for the Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) was unanimous, including Commissioner McVoy? Check back tomorrow.