And The Inspector Clouseau Award Goes to . . .

I read this in "the Greatest Newspaper Ever" this morning. It was then confirmed on the news so I guess it wasn't a misprint.

First, do you remember the beginning of the movie "The Pink Panther"? Peter Sellers plays the bumbling Inspector Clouseau as a young cop on the beat in Paris. He is walking in front of a bank and all of a sudden the alarm goes off. Chaos ensues as the robbers exit the bank, guns drawn. Clouseau, being the helpful soul and keen observer he is, notices the men need to get across the street quickly so he stops traffic and waives them across.

Earlier this month a Utah Highway Patrol deputy (she is not the one up for the award) was shot in the performance of her duty. The assailants were identified and tracked to a home in Salt Lake. The SWAT team was called in and several other agencies besides the Salt Lake Police helped evacuate the neighborhood so the suspects could be surprised without harm to the local citizens.

The problem was that the suspects were sleeping at a different house two doors down from the SWAT team target house. They, along with the family who lived in the house, were awakened by the police to be evacuated. Someone official talked with these two men (the suspects) and told them to go with the family and get out of the neighborhood so they could be safe. The men (suspects) fled with the family.

Now doesn't it defeat the purpose if those conducting the containment can't recognize those they are trying to contain? Wouldn't it have been better to have copies of pictures available to all who were at the scene. It is often said perpetrators visit the scene of the crime. CSI even did a bit on their show about it by reviewing recordings of a crime scene to see if they recognized anyone.

The good news is that the suspects were captured 24 hours later despite help from the cops. Way to go Barney Fife.