Breaking News vs. Broken News

The first person listed on the El Paso Times’ weekly feature, El Paso’s Most Wanted, is a 61 year-old man who didn’t show up for court for a misdemeanor charge of Possession of Marijuana, less than two ounces, after he was released on a Personal Recognizance bond.

Really? That’s what we’ve got?

(I like to call them Los Mas Queridos, but that’s maybe a little too literal translation.)

Now I know that the newspaper gets the list of these alleged perpetrators from CrimeStoppers, but doesn’t someone check the content before they run the story?

Is Misdemeanor Possession of Marijuana what passes for a serious crime in El Paso these days? Enough to earn you a spot on El Paso’s Most Wanted?

(Full disclosure: I’ve been arrested for Misdemeanor Possession of Marijuana, less than two ounces, before, more than fifteen years ago. Also full disclosure: I’m a nice guy.)

When someone tells you that our police officers are out there putting their lives at risk every day, remember that Misdemeanor Possession of Marijuana passes for a serious crime in one of the safest cities in the United States.

And the El Paso Times runs the story, with a photo?

Is that the best use of their resources?

3 comments

  1. I saw the same thing on Facebook. My guess is it’s a dirty trick to get more people to click on the link. Might have appeared in the print version too but that was probably driven by what appeared online. You saw the guy’s picture, right? Doesn’t exactly look like what most people would consider an upstanding citizen, to say the least. So my suspicion is they were betting on a lot of people clicking the link to find out what that guy did.

  2. EPPD and EPSO should be happy that in this border town, there is a large number of Border Patrol, FBI, DEA, Secret Service, CBP, ATF, etc.… to off set some of the burden of keeping this town safe.
    But in reality, probably the main reason that this town is somewhat safe is because of the phrase “do not shit where you eat”.
    I find it very hard to believe that El Paso keeps ranking as one on the safest cities in the US, and some folks claiming that is because EPPD and EPSO are doing such a great job.
    But in contrary, Juarez continuous to rank as one of the most dangerous cities in the world.

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