Police fight culture of ‘no snitching’ (News & Observer)

Police fight culture of ‘no snitching’

DURHAM Someone knows who fired more than 30 bullets into a Shannon Road apartment in Durham in July, while three adults and a 4-year-old girl slept inside.

Someone also has information about who shot and killed Thomas McLean Spruill at a Durham townhouse complex in June.

But in both cases, those who know aren’t talking to police, and Durham’s police chief blames that on a culture against “snitching.”

In many urban areas, providing information to police is a violation of street ethics punished by anything from intimidation to death.

The phenomenon made national news in 2004 when a Baltimore DVD about snitching that included a cameo by NBA star Carmello Anthony was released. T-shirts with “No Snitching,” “Snitches Get Stitches” and similar slogans followed. As early as 1999, when rap music popularized the “No Snitching” slogan, local prosecutors began noticing less cooperation from co-defendants.

The anti-snitching code has decreased respect for the criminal justice system and made at least one Raleigh murder trial difficult to prosecute, said Wake County Chief Assistant District Attorney Howard Cummings. “And that lack of respect and other gang affiliation is what fuels the fear of coming forward,” he said.

Those who know who shot at the Shannon Road apartment but remain silent are as guilty as the shooter, Durham Police Chief Jose L. Lopez Sr. said.

“In essence, they’ve agreed to wait until the police finally capture the individual

[after] more crimes and put them away for a longer period of time, or they go to a funeral parlor and see their loved ones for the last time,” he said.

The anti-snitching code is perpetuated at home and where children spend most of their day, some say.

“We’ve enabled a culture in schools where in many ways children who are bullied or victimized are in a helpless situation,” said Steven Asher, a Duke University professor who studies friendships, peer relations and social skills among youth. “Part of this happens because in America we put a huge emphasis on self-reliance. We really feel people should take care of themselves.”

At school, telling on someone can result in physical violence or social rejection.

“If you tell and others find out, you’ll see a resistance in people talking to you and hanging out with you,” said Trevon Spence, 17, a senior at Durham’s Jordan High School. “You start to lose your friends …. Sometimes losing them is worse than getting jumped.”

Middle school students have been suspended for not telling on their classmates, said Bill Thomas, director of the Boys & Girls Club Teen Center near WakeMed in Raleigh.

Who’s a snitch

The anti-snitching culture comes from rules meant for those in the street life, Thomas said.

“The cultures have crossed, and that is a problem,” he said. “You have gang members aligned with your average Joes. You have two worlds that are now becoming one.”

And even if a teenager tells someone, there’s a chance it may not be an adult.

“A parent can blow it out of proportion and say you can’t hang out with that person,” said Garcia Langley, 17, who also attends Jordan High. “And then they’re worrying about who you hang out with. With a friend, you talk about it and the conversation is over. With a parent, it keeps going.”

Police departments across the nation have fought the anti-snitching code with CrimeStoppers programs, where people can anonymously trade crime tips for cash. Boston was the first city to enable residents to text anonymous crime tips to police. Louisville, Ky., Kansas City, Mo., San Diego and others have picked up on it. Durham and other places are considering it.

Lopez said he thinks of snitching in its purest sense — when someone tells on co-conspirators. Residents contacting police about illegal activity in their neighborhoods are not snitches, Lopez said.

Such people are doing their civic duty, Durham County Assistant District Attorney Stormy Ellis said.

“Crime needs to be dealt with, but it takes personal responsibility to bring people to justice,” said Ellis, who handles gang cases. “We can’t prosecute cases without witnesses being present. So if people want to take back their neighborhoods, I don’t call it snitching. Speak out, speak up, and speak often.”

Sometimes, though, speaking up — or the perception of doing so — can be costly.

Ryan Alexander Barnes, 20, is currently serving seven to 10 years in state prison for shooting a fellow gang member several times in the stomach and torso in Raleigh in July 2008. Barnes received an order from a jailed gang leader to kill someone he thought was going to testify against him.

Evasive at trial

Prosecutors in Wake had difficulty getting witnesses to testify in the murder trial of Latrell “Murder” Latham, who was accused of killing a 74-year-old church deacon. Some witnesses were held in jail to ensure that they would appear in court.

During the trial, those witnesses weren’t as forthcoming as when they had previously talked to investigators. They were evasive on the stand and said they didn’t believe what Latham told them.

Cummings, a Wake prosecutor, said it was all “very frustrating.” Latham, 17 at the time, was acquitted in February because of the lack of evidence. “[The jury doesn’t] want to send someone to prison based on testimony where the person didn’t sit up straight or wasn’t forthcoming,” he said.

Lopez still thinks an arrest will be made in the Shannon Road incident.

“I think that someone, if they don’t come forward out of a sense of righteousness, they’ll come forward out of a sense of self-preservation,” he said. “They’ll be arrested, and they’ll give information to better their situation in the legal system.”

But Cynthia Bridges, whose home was shot at and whose son is charged with shooting a police officer who responded to the incident, isn’t as hopeful.

“I’m quite sure someone knows. I’m sure it wasn’t one man’s job,” she said. “Nobody would come into a complex and do that by themselves. But they’re afraid. Who’s going to protect them when they tell?”

stan.chambers@newsobserver.com or 919-932-2025

2017-05-24T08:56:36+00:00October 12th, 2009|
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