BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Monitor Editor
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS— Clay County Sheriff Michelle Cook said she is reopening the office’s substation within the Keystone Heights City Hall. The substation previously operated out of the South Lawrence Boulevard government building and was closed by Cook’s predecessor.
“We know how important a substation is to all of you,” Cook said during a July 29 announcement at Keystone Beach. “We will be able to meet citizens or conduct business out here.”
Cook added that this summer, she has devoted additional resources to the Lake Region, which has resulted in over 100 traffic stops, 20 arrests, including 10 felony arrests and 175 contacts with businesses and citizens.
Commissioner: report crimes to sheriff, not just to social media
Joining Cook at the announcement was County Commissioner Betsy Condon. The Crystal Lake resident asked Lake Region citizens to report crimes and suspicious activity to law enforcement rather than only posting the information on social media.
“A lot of times on social media, it’s a great place to share information and stories, and we all like to read it to know what’s going on in our community,” Condon said, “but one of the biggest things that you can do to help us is make sure that you are reporting all of these crimes to the sheriff’s office.”
“Because unless they have an official report, they cannot make an initiation with someone who looks suspicious or they can’t go out and investigate,” she added, “so Facebook comments, Facebook messenger messages, they cannot legally use to go out and look at some of these things.”
After Condon’s comments, the sheriff elaborated on why citizens should report crimes and suspicious activity to law enforcement rather than on social media.
“When you call the police,” she said, “you are making an official report at that time. And the Facebook post, Number 1: we don’t monitor them. Number 2: It’s very vague. When you call and say: Hey, there’s a guy in a blue shirt, the dispatcher’s going to ask you for additional information.”
Cook added that phone calls to her office provide deputies with a more substantial legal basis for them to question suspects because, without reasonable suspicion, officers cannot detain suspects who refuse to answer their questions.
The sheriff added that time delays often occur between the time an activity occurred and when a post appears on social media, which delays law enforcement’s response and effectiveness.
When asked why she thinks citizens report suspicious activity to social media rather than to law enforcement, Cook said she believes people don’t want to bother the sheriff’s office with an activity that could be inconsequential.
“They think that maybe their information is not important enough to call us,” she said.
Cook also said that social media leads are often second or thirdhand information which is inaccurate.
“What I do see on Facebook many times is people writing: my cousin’s neighbor saw something, my cousin’s mother saw something happen, and I’m relaying that information,” Cook said. “And we trace that story back, and what actually happened is not what was reported on Facebook. So, I want to talk to the person who had the initial contact with first-hand information, not someone else, days later. That’s another reason why it’s so important for people to call us.”
