Releasing photos of crime suspects early could help

It didn’t take police in New York long to catch the man suspected of planting a series of bombs over the weekend. The arrest of the man, found sleeping in a doorway, came not long after police made the rare decision to use the city’s emergency notification system, typically reserved for severe weather, to notify New York residents who the suspect was they were looking for. One man who provided a tip to police said he recognized the suspect from the photo police sent. Perhaps that could be a lesson to police elsewhere, including La Crosse. This case shows that enlisting the public’s help in solving a crime can pay quick dividends. It would be good to see police more willing to share the photos of some crime suspects with the public via a text notification system. For the most part, the public is eager to help, especially if they feel they are in danger. And with all the tensions between police and the public, such a system may patch relations, with both groups working together toward a common goal. Would sharing the photos of a man suspected of an armed robbery at a La Crosse business yesterday help police catch the man more quickly? Based on what we saw in New York, it seems it can only help police do their jobs and catch their man.