Those readers I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting in person should know that I proudly represent St. Paul, Minn. To those who don’t care, I hope you’ll forgive me for discussing a topic that’s quite literally close to home for me. A debate in the city council of St. Paul's twin city, Minneapolis, caught my attention this week: three city council members made a proposal to equip police officers with body cameras. The proposed measure is still in its infancy, but it’s not a bad idea. The police force in Minneapolis, of course, is wary of the idea, but it may benefit them more than they let on. Cameras would have a positive influence on police work for the police as well as the people they apprehend.
Monday evening, Feb. 25, a sparkler bomb was found on campus in the alleyway between Bratton Tennis Center and the Department of Social and Health Services.
Oct. 1 marked the annual day by which colleges across the nation must publish facts about the crimes that occur on and around their campuses in an Annual Security Report. This year’s report, with data through the end of the calendar year 2011, was emailed out to students on Sept. 28. The report is often referred to as the “Clery report†and is named for a student murdered in the 1980s.
The Walla Walla police department has seen some big changes over the last few months, chief among them a newly constructed station and a newly hired chief of police.
A trial date for a former Whitman student who has been charged with identity theft in the second degree and burglary in the second degree has been set.
From 2005 to 2010, there have been a total of 43 incidents of sexual assault reported on the Whitman College campus, according to Whitman's Clery crime statistics. Of these, 31 were incidents of forcible rape. It is likely that far more rapes have actually occurred over that period, because many go unreported.
Some of these cases have made their way through Whitman's formal hearing process, and some have resulted in the college punishing the offender. Yet in the time that Detective Miguel Sanchez has been investigating rape and domestic violence cases for the Walla Walla Police Department, there hasn't been a single rape case from Whitman where criminal charges were filed.
Disclaimer: The name of the student charged with these offenses was removed from this article on Oct. 22, 2020 and replaced with "Philip Forest." The original charges were vacated from his record five...
