Suicide Blind Spot

The Mesquite Police Department is one of the finest in the state, and possibly one of the better departments in the entire country.  While too many people inside and outside of Mesquite want to paint our officers as a collection of Barney Fifes, and insist they're patrolling a 21st century Mayberry, the truth is quite different.

Just last week, a routine traffic stop by a Mesquite officer resulted in arrests for possession of illegal credit card equipment and credit cards.  The only reason these criminals were taken off the street is because a Mesquite police officer was diligent, smart, and pursued his instincts.  After asking if he could look through the car, he conducted a thorough search of the vehicle from California, finding the equipment that was obviously being used for an illegal enterprise.

The department has made numerous arrests over the last 12 months that came about from rapid responses and sharp, alert cops.

Also, the department has become more transparent during the last three years, even with a City Hall that has repeatedly tried to squash information.  Under interim police chief Troy Tanner, the flow of information from the department has continued to improve, despite recently losing one of the best Public Information Officers in the state.

Unfortunately, despite all that openness, the department and the city government continue to have a blind spot.

When someone takes their own life in the city of Mesquite, this transparent, open machine goes into secrecy overdrive.

The recent suicide by a Virgin Valley High School student is a tragedy, and is no doubt a horrendous burden on the family and friends she left behind.  No amount of words can soothe the gaping hole in their souls caused by the girl's death.  In a civilized society, their pain warrants sympathy and discretion.

However, in that same civilized society, that discretion should not include the suppression of the facts surrounding what is technically and legally deemed a form of homicide.

The demand for information by the media and the public is not a matter of morbid curiosity, or just an insistence on the people's right to know.

It's an issue of safety and community involvement to fix things that might be broken.  People cannot correct something when they don't know there's a problem.

As most mental health experts will agree, any suicide attempt whether successful or not is a cry for help.  In this instance, because of the Mesquite Police Department's decision not to release information on the death, that cry will go unheeded and in vain.

No one can bring this teenager back.  But if the facts surrounding her death are covered up as they appear to have been in this case, we lose an opportunity to learn from it and possibly prevent it from happening to another young person.

The rumors around town have been rampant that the girl was the victim of bullying.  This may or may not be true.  If it isn't true, the police department should say so, lay out the facts, and put these rumors to rest.

If it is true, then someone needs to be held accountable.  More importantly, the people of this community need to know so measures can be taken to keep it from occurring again. 

In the murder-suicide involving city councilwoman Donna Fairchild, there were indications that a form of political bullying may have taken place.  That doesn't excuse the murder part of the equation, but might help explain how things reached such a tragic place.  If properly investigated and reported by the police, it would again help stanch the flow of rumor and innuendo that flourishes in an informational vacuum.  The public could also use the information to try and find ways of putting legal, moral, and procedural safeguards in place that might keep this from repeating itself.

In the Fairchild case, police became more forthcoming with information once City Hall's secret-keepers stepped out of the way and allowed the police department to provide their own briefings, but there were still plenty of secrets held by police, including details of the autopsy and conversations between the councilwoman and people at City Hall.

Then you have the 2009 jailhouse suicide of Tim Thompson.  The department was willing to permit a video of the suicide to be viewed by the media, but the idea was squashed by City Hall.  The result is that today, more than two years later, rumors persist that the man's death wasn't a suicide, but something more sinister.

In the case of the most recent suicide, more information should have been released.  Yes, the family's wishes for privacy need to be respected, but the safety of the rest of our kids must take priority.  If bullying is taking place in our schools, that is a societal problem that must be addressed by the community.  It's not the school's burden alone.  Police by themselves can't stop it. 

Mesquite is a caring small town, and the residents of this town would stand united in spreading the message and teaching our young people that bullying cannot and will not be tolerated. 

But the community can't spread that message if it doesn't know whether bullying is taking place, or if it was a factor in this girl's heartbreaking death.

As the cliche' goes, information is power.  Withholding information makes the people powerless.  And once again, the vacuum which remains will almost always be filled with humanity's worst nature.

Interim Chief Tanner and the dedicated officers of the Mesquite Police Department have shown they're better than this. 

They have to get rid of that blind spot, and do a better job of informing the public on the hard stuff to go along with the press releases about their victories.

The lives of our children and friends just may depend on it.