I almost hate to even bring it up, the video, the dashcam recordings of the events leading up to and after Officer Matthews died tragically in a car crash on Shipyard Blvd. I hate to bring it up because I didn't start this fight and I seem to some to be taking up for the group that did start this all up by filing a lawsuit to have the videos released.
First let me make this perfectly clear, I do not think the videos should have been publicly released when and how they were released. However I do respect the need the press has to be able to obtain data like this in order to protect public interest and to hold those accountable for various possible shortcomings and/or possible acts of corruption. This is, as I have said before, the American way.
There are ways to do things and ways not to do things. I have made numerous attempts to obtain public documents and data from the sheriff and each time have met a stone wall. The WPD has been extremely generous and cooperative, always been that way thanks to the Chief's way of doing business. Maybe the historic stonewalling by the sheriff's office has created this rush to judgment by the Star News because of the frustrations that have led to an enormous distrust with anything related to law enforcement and how they conduct the public's business. Ask the Sheriff for a dashcam video of the chase and wrecking of a fleeing, finger waving nutjob and you see it (or what they say "it" is) with four people looking over your shoulder and NO you can't have a copy. But did the Star News get their panties all in a wad over that slap in the face? Not that I know of. Did the Sheriff release the video? No. Do we know what happened that night? No. But do we know what happened the night Officer Matthews died? Yes. How can we (the public) be sure? Because the Chief begrudgingly did the right thing and handed over the recordings.
Would I have posted the recordings? No. In fact I have not even requested a copy, I know people that were there that night, eye witnesses and I can take their word for it based on our personal relationships. But then I have no responsibility to the public for anything. Yes, we/I report news, but we/I do so with personal opinion and professional experience mixed in, we admit to being biased. We favor the good guys and hammer the bad. The Star News, by a journalistic code of ethics, is not biased, they are reporters of the fact, you won't or shouldn't find commentary or opinion anywhere but on the editorial pages.
I'm surprised the paper didn't read the public any better than they did, if they did then they knew the public would turn on them over the release.
I hate that this was done the way it was. I hate that the Chief had to turn the recordings over knowing what would happen. There isn't another human being, outside a blood relative of Officer Matthews, that respected Rich Matthews any more than Chief Evangelous . He had to have felt torn, to have been emotional, pissed, when he agreed to let go of the recordings. But he knew he had to, he knew why he had to and he knew it is part of his job to do so. You can't pick and choose what to release and what not to release, the law is very clear. As long as the information being requested does not jeopardize an ongoing investigation or endanger the life of someone, the information is public and anyone can request it and receive it.
worth reading
I understand why the Chief released the recordings, I understand the request, I'm glad I saw how big that box was in the middle of the road, I'm glad to know the road conditions and the non-existent amount of traffic on the road. I saw the attempted escape of the felon Anthony Pierce as Cpl. Will Richards followed him through neighborhoods, that one might correctly assume, are inhabited by families with young children. But as one member of Blue emailed me and said, "this could have all been shown in still pictures, they didn't have to publish the video"
Actually you don't even have to show a still image to tell a story, case in point, want to know what kind of guy Officer Rich Matthews was? I'll tell you as I was told by a friend and coworker of Officer Matthews.
As Rich Matthews was leaving the WPD parking lot to begin his night shift work the day he died, a coworker saw a Santa hat on the head rest of the passenger side of the car, he stopped Matthews and said, "Hey it ain't Christmas anymore, what's with the hat?" To which Officer Rich Matthews replied back, "Brother, to me, every day is Christmas."
Now you can see what kind of guy this young officer was, hours before his tragic death, full of life, full of the Christmas spirit. You didn't need a picture, you couldn't have taken a picture to illustrate that imagery. But you see it, you can see that hat, that smile, that wink, in your mind's eye you see him driving off, going to work, putting his life on the line.
Pictures can't show what we all miss, pictures can't show what happened that night, moving pictures or still pictures will never show the intent, the determination, the consciousness, the alert state of readiness for anything, even a box in the middle of the road, a picture will never show what truly happened anymore than the words I received less than an hour after the crash when a friend called in the middle of the night and said, "It's bad Tre , it's bad." That's all I needed to know. It was bad, and will always be. Pictures will never make it better or worse for some. But for others, people who don't have that friend call them with a report, pictures show the box in the middle of the road, the lack of traffic on the roadway, the danger caused by the fleeing felon a mile away, pictures help prove than Officer Matthews was a professional responding to a call for aid in a manner that did not endanger the public nor recklessly cause his own death.
What do you think about the release of the video? I want to know.
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