A serial thief has been targeting opticians across Scotland, helping himself to some pretty expensive frames.
Designer glasses worth tens of thousands of pounds from a string of shops from Glasgow to Edinburgh and lots of places in-between.
As thieves go he’s pretty gallus in his technique and it’s fairly obvious he’s pilfering the goods to make a quick buck but what caught my attention was the furore – including from serving police officers – surrounding the CCTV footage released in the hope he could be identified.
His face was blurred out which seemed to anger the public and police alike as commentators raged against the absurdity of issuing blacked-out images calling for witnesses to help identify the suspect.
What’s the point they asked? Indeed.
It’s a regular occurrence in Scotland – last month CCTV images were released of the man caught in the act of firebombing former Celtic chief Peter Lawwell’s Bothwell home.
It was almost two months after the shocking incident but what grated with the public was the grainy image, which even the suspect’s mother would be hard pushed to identify.
Recently in this paper we questioned the effectiveness of police appeals for a wanted suspect when we were banned from using his image but still asked to warn the public not to approach him.
For someone who understands the law surrounding identification regarding people suspected of crimes but presumed innocent it seems illogical when police tread oh so carefully despite the public interest in alerting the wider population to dangerous men or women.
We knew his identity and we had his picture but we couldn’t relay that information to you.
Cops tell me with identification issues there used to be an acceptance you may lose the evidence of an ID on the basis of them being seen in the media but for some reason they (the Crown Office) think blobbed people is OK.
It often becomes the source of much hilarity/angst by the media and public alike.
A few years ago I worked with the US Marshals on an investigation. The subject of my story was in their top 25 FBI Most Wanted.
Crime gang lieutenant William Blackledge, originally from Lanarkshire, had risen through the ranks to become a big boss and was importing millions of pounds worth of drugs into the US from Colombia for the powerful Cali cartel – Pablo Escobar’s main rivals.
Blackledge made millions and skipped town when the FBI made him their No1 target. He had been hunted by US Marshals for 16 years when I got a tip he was living in the south of France.
You can imagine my surprise when the Americans shared with me every detail they could – mugshots, driving licence details, including pictures of him and his wife, aliases, photos of his family and some identifying features that would help in my search.
I spent a few weeks investigating Blackledge in France and we managed to track him down – but by the time the Marshals had been mobilised he was off again.
A few months later, the Marshals notified me he was suspected of having alighted from a cruise ship in Dover and could I get there quickly? (I know we’re tiny compared with the US but really?)
Lady luck was again shining on the drug baron because incredibly the port officials let him go. He’s been in the wind ever since.
Of course, the rights of those suspected of crimes should be protected but it seems a no-brainer when police have their man (or woman) bang to rights and there are concerns for public safety that the use of photographs should be allowed.
Blobbed-out faces are a waste of your time and mine.
Quantico examples
Reminicising about old cases I’ve worked on reminded me of this little story from a cop pal.
Scots cops routinely got the chance to go and study at the FBI Academy in Quantico on short training courses for various law enforcement practices popular in the States that could also work for policing over here.
Anyway, my pal was in a lecture headed by Special Agent James Yacone – who famously landed his crippled helicopter in a protected area during the 1993 battle in Somalia that was made famous by the movie, Black Hawk Down – when up pops pictures of stories by yours truly.
Yacone told the assembled class that my work was excellent examples of “great communication between journalists and law enforcement officials”.
You hear that, Police Scotland?
