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School crime reports to be relayed faster
By LEANORA MINAI
© St. Petersburg Times, ST. PETERSBURG -- The St. Petersburg Police Department vowed Monday to quickly notify the public of serious crimes at Pinellas County schools. At a 30-minute meeting, Pinellas school administrators and police officials discussed procedures for informing the community of crimes such as sexual assaults. "We will be looking at those things a lot more closely and making sure things go out in a more timely basis," said Rick Stelljes, Police Department spokesman. Police and school officials came under fire last week for quietly handling an Oct. 5 assault at St. Petersburg High School. In that case, two 16-year-old boys were arrested and accused of forcing a girl to perform oral sex on them in a campus restroom. The boys were charged with sexual battery. Police did not issue a news release, and the school did not send a letter home to parents. On Oct. 12, another 16-year-old boy was accused of attempting to have sex with a girl in a campus restroom. He was charged with kidnapping and attempted sexual battery. Police officials first sent a press release to school officials for review -- not the media. The school then sent a letter home. "I will tell you straight up -- I don't think there's any doubt that when these things come to me, from now on, they're going out," Stelljes said. Ron Stone, Pinellas schools spokesman, said the school district was not trying to cover anything up. "Parents just have to rely on the administration and the Police Department," Stone said. The school district usually sends a letter home to parents only if police issue a news release on an incident or crime, he said.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
