The "Runaway Bride" and paying for police

[DefenseLawyer]

We all saw the circus roll into town over this "Runaway Bride" story, which to me was barely a local story much less national news, but that is modern cable news, and I'm not changing that anytime soon. But now there is a big debate over whether this woman should be charged with a crime and whether she should pay the costs of the massive search which played out on the cameras. There seems to be quite a bit of support for the idea that she should pay the costs for the work of the police on her case. But is it really a good idea to start routinely seeking private payment for public servants? We pay taxes to employ these people to do just these kinds of jobs. Yes, no one likes seeing time and money wasted, but if this were the norm wouldn't there be a tendency to work harder on cases that had a greater chance of paying up in the end? It seems a bad idea to me to create private financial incentives for public officials and taken to its extreme would turn the police into a pay as you go private security service.

[Fiona]

1. She submitted a false report to the police

and that is prosecutable.

[DefenseLawyer]

2. No kidding

I am not questioning the D.A.'s right to prosecute, although I doubt that something like this would have been prosecuted if it wasn't on CNN. But I am not talking about prosecuting her for some alleged crime. I am talking about the idea that someone should pay for police service. The idea that she cause all this trouble and she should pay them back for doing their jobs. If a guy leaves his keys in his car and it is stolen should he have to pay for being stupid? What about the guy they talk down from the ledge? Should he pay for them holding that trampoline thing under him for a couple of hours? I just don't think it is a good idea for police to factor in the ability to pay in determining the resources they commit to solving a crime, which might very well be the case if the government started routinly seeking private payment for services.

[Vinca]

3. But at the time the massive search was launched, she hadn't.

She didn't make her false report until after the search had been called off. I think it's a stupid story and she's a dizzy woman, but tax dollars fund rescue services. That said, if she's prosecuted for making a false report - which she should be - it wouldn't be a bad thing to have a hefty fine levied as well as some community service.

[Spinzonner]

5. But not to the police who are contemplating charging her

I thought the false statements about a kidnapping were made to the New Mexico police, who declined to charge her.

SHE never contacted the home-town cops about it, her family did.

[Jose Diablo]

4. I wonder the same thing

Notice how the fire department now charges to take someone to the hospital?

There was a time, long ago, when fire stations would only fight a fire if the owner of the building had previously bought 'insurance' with that specific fire station. The owners would be given a plate to fasten to the building and if there was no plate, the building would be allowed to burn. Sometimes the firemen would just stand around and watch it burn.

As the public became aware of the problem of how to compensate fireman for their time and effort, it became clear that this function in society should be paid with commonly funded (tax) money. Nobody wanted to let a building just burn down and it was thought that seeing how everyone had to buy the 'insurance' anyway, why not make it more efficient for society and make this function a function the government would provide, without competition between many different companies.

Somehow, this important lesson about the proper place for competition has been lost and now, even after seeing the results of deregulation in many industries that used to be a 'common' function of society, once again these idiots are looking at other areas like the police to 'privatize'.

Don't these morons know anything about history?

[wtbymark]

6. I don't believe she should have to pay for police services

...but, here in Vermont, you are charged for search and rescue if you get lost in the mountains. Most all of these instances are 'out of bounds skiers', so i think the rational is; if you do something stupid (voluntarily) you are liable for the cost. Since the policy was put into place, there has been a significant decline in out of bounds skiers.

[Jose Diablo]

7. As for prosecuting Jennifer for a false report

Like indicated above, I don't think she is the one that caused to search to be undertaken.

I seem to remember when she first 'disappeared' the Duluth Police Chief was explaining they the police do not "have" to wait 24 hours before looking for someone that seemed to have disappeared. Remember now, this woman is 32 years old. It is not uncommon for adults to just go someplace, they are adults you know, not children. For this very good reason, generally the police will not even take a missing person report until a certain period of time has elapsed. Sometimes even as high as 72 hours. The time period varies from police department to police department.

But in this case, they jumped right on it. Why? Could the reason they jumped right on it was because the fiance's family was a wealthy and powerful family in Gwinnett county? I think so. I wouldn't even doubt that pressure (political) was placed on the police to start a search before the normal period of time had elapsed.

If it were me, I had the power to decide the issue, I would hold those responsible for pulling the police's chain culpable. And I don't think it was Jennifer's family that pulled that chain.

Thats what I think.

I also might add that I thought the picture of Jennifer shown in the media was strange. Her eyes had white completely around the iris. As has been pointed out in other threads, this is indicative of a serious chemical imbalance in the brain chemistry. It has also been pointed out that the picture in the media had been 'photoshopped' to make the white completely surround the iris. This was shown by blowing-up the digital picture and the pixels could clearly be seen to have been altered. Who did this altering, and why? Strange, huh.

[elehhhhna]

16. Her future/never/ex Father-in-law was apparently Mayor of Duluth once

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

8. She is an adult and decided to leave. She didn't have a legal

obligation to tell anyone about it. I don't think she has to repay the police because of this.

Interestingly enough, I just heard that the first thing her fiance did, upon seeing her again was to put her engagement ring back on her finger. Hello!!!!! It appears as if she left her engagement ring behind.... wouldn't that have been a Huge Clue?????

[Jose Diablo]

9. Yes, a big clue

if that is the case, then using the police to find someone that had decided to leave, well it seems to me, way out of line.

But they could say, well she just went jogging and didn't want the extra weight. LOL

But I would imagine she had to take at least some money and ID. She did take a greyhound. I presume she caught a Gwinnett bus to Doraville, picked-up MARTA to the bus depot and from there out of town. How did she get a ticket without money/card and ID. It cannot be done.

Thus, unlike what was reported in the news, she did take more than just what was on her back. And I think the fiance should have known this before going to the police.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

11. It was also reported that she bought the ticket a week before, and

while out "jogging" took a cab to the bus station. And the cab driver didn't come forward? She also supposedly didn't hear about the massive hunt for her because she was on the bus. First destination Las Vegas, and then on to New Mexico.

On edit...they said she purchased the bus ticket under an assumed name.

[Jose Diablo]

12. I know the route to Vegas from here

It stops at every whistle stop between them. I have heard it takes a ID in addition to a ticket to even get on the bus now. Part of TSA's efforts to make us safe in the skies.

Something about this story isn't passing the sniff test.

[KharmaTrain]

10. Had This Not Been On CNNServative...Make Them Pay For It!

That's the operative phrase. How this non-story could still be yaked about last night just shows how out of touch corporate media has become to manufacture "news" that is cheap, predictable (when it's a corpse, not a runaway bride...that's what they were hoping for) and gave them a "hot story" on the first weekend of the sweeps...which is what this was really all about.

Yes, this lady (and she's no girl...at 32 I was married for 6 years and had 2 children) probably isn't playing with a full 52, but then who in this country is these days?

CNNServative should be the one to pay for this fiasco, cause they're the ones who took it from a story worthy of the Duluth Shopper into a "national obsession". It was that swarm of satellite trucks and anchor people pontificating and speculating that created the "frenzy" that pushed the local cops to spend a lot more than they would have had this matter been handled privately. They even did a special, which I'm sure was sold at higher advertising rates, just to cash in while they could.

After watching some of her fiancee last night...joined at the arms and legs to the local pastor...along with all other goofy friends and relatives...I'd hop a Greyhound and would never have come back.

[Jose Diablo]

13. There was this picture of a black policeman

as he searched for clues in the yard during this affair.

He had his nose practically in the grass, I had to laugh when I saw that. He looked studious, but somehow I could almost hear him thinking, "this is bullshit". Thats what I thought anyway, as I saw the picture.

[KharmaTrain]

14. Yep...it was "Look Busy, The Camera's On"

When the cable news goons come to town, things turn upside down. A couple years ago, some high school kids and their parents got rowdy...turned into a drunken brawl and became the cable network's flavor of the moment. No sooner was this on the cable news radar than several dozen trucks had set up shop across of the high school, another dozen at the village hall and the town was soon crawling with media types and other gawkers. It seemed like everywhere you looked there was someone pointing a camera and nobody could get anywhere or do anything without a microphone being stuck in their face. A friend purposely lied to get his mug on the tube...saying he knew some of the people involved, when he didn't, but since he was a local, the corporate media types didn't care.

These goons will roll into a quiet community and pick it dry to milk a story or create one, if needs be. Again, this story was super cheap for CNNServative since it happened in their backyard. They surely made several hundred thousands in additional advertising revenues (or will based on the ratings this thing drew)...they should get the bill. They're the ones who profited most.

[newportdadde]

15. If making her pay stops this media circus

from happening in the future then I say make her pay :)

At least leave a fucking note damn...

[burn the bush]

17. they routinely charge idiots who do stupid things like this

if u try to go over the falls, they will arrest you and charge you with the rescue cost. They put the rescuers lives in danger so when they have to be rescued they often get a 20,000? helicopter bill too.

this woman should have contacted police as soon as the story broke and the police were involved. She could have contacted the police and declined to tell them where she was, but that she was ok. A lot of resources were wasted on her.

I mean, the news may have had to keep reporting on Laura's comedy routine or who knows what else. The woman must be punished.

seriously, unless she was in actual danger, I feel that she should have to pay something.

Had a kid fake an abduction in our area. The kid was charged. If they hadn't how many other kids would have tried it?