BY DAVE PRICE
Daily Post Editor
I hope this is a one-off, but the new San Mateo County Sheriff, Ken Binder, waited nine days to tell the public that a woman had been threatened and a man was assaulted at the San Carlos Caltrain station.
On Dec. 23, a man hassled a woman waiting for a train about her clothing. He then threatened to throw her on the tracks, according to the DA’s office. A Good Samaritan who didn’t know the victim stepped in and confronted the thug. The thug repeatedly punched the Good Samaritan, then hopped on a train and remained at large until Thursday. That’s when deputies arrested a suspect, Brian Weisl, 33, of South San Francisco.
I think people who take the train would like to know about incidents like this on a timely basis, especially when the alleged perpetrator is at large and could attack them. Secrecy doesn’t benefit anyone.
This kind of secrecy is the kind of thing that former sheriff Christina Corpus practiced on a regular basis. Her lack of transparancy raised suspicions about corruption in the Sheriff’s Office.
After the Board of Supervisors fired Corpus, the supervisors all talked about the importance of transparency.
I hope this is just a beginner’s mistake.
Then again, the Sheriff’s Office has a contract with Caltrain to provide police services. Caltrain tries to hide railroad deaths from the public, whether they are intentional or accidental. Corpus helped keep the deaths secret. Nobody expected her to be an honest broker about death reports. But Binder shouldn’t acquiesce to Caltrain’s secrecy demands.
Sheriff Binder, if a death or serious crime happened anywhere else in the county, you’d inform the public about it promptly. It shouldn’t be any different if it involves Caltrain.
Dave Price’s column appears on Mondays.
If only reporting facts to the public were like the movies- the magic computer would get all of the “correct/relevant” information to public instantly. I watched this on the news several times since Christmas. What will it take to be good enough in law enforcement – never sleep, never eat?
Reading this case the officers arrested someone for this crime. There is a responsibility to get facts and report relevant information during an active investigation.
“Case closed,” I’m not sure what you’re trying to say because of your broken English. But the investigation of a major crime usually isn’t nice and tidy like it is on TV. There are loose ends and unanswered questions. But the public’s right to know about dangerous suspects at large trumps the desire to conceal the facts in an imperfect situation.
When a violent attack occurs and the perpetrator isn’t caught, it’s the obligation of law enforcement to tell people what happened so they can protect themselves. If the sheriff camnot or will not do this, then we need somebody else in the job. Just say what happened. Ken Binder is off on the wrong foot.
While this guy was free, how many more people did he attack?
Dave, you did a fantastic job reporting the corpus disaster.
I can assure you that if Sheriff Binder, did in fact not reveal the crime Or details, he had good reason. Prior to instant access to information and media, law-enforcement would often hold onto information so it would not tip off suspects or co- conspirators.
Perhaps there was something that only the suspect would know or only the suspect had such as a tattoo or other identifying mark. The detectives investigating the case might not want that information released until necessary as this might tip off the suspect
What is Grandma relax and give this guy a chance – I guarantee you he knows what he’s doing.
While you were nestled at home with family and friends thinking of new things to complain about…:Rather than dive right into bashing newly appointed Ken Binder perhaps ask questions. Who is actually in charge of Cal Train between SF and the entire peninsula through Santa Clara/San Jose? When a crime happens on the trains when and who is responsible to inform the San Mateo Sheriff? When did the Sheriff become aware of this information and what information was known at the time? Within a week an arrest was made, what harm was done and what was the public at risk of?
Was it known at the time this was an isolated incident or was there a pattern starting? What information could be shared that was accurate on the day the incident happened?
Perhaps communications between Cal Trans and the Sheriff department division on charge can be improved then the media can be better informed.
Perhaps the media will twist any scenario to make law enforcement look bad for the sake of a dramatic story.
Maybe one should know how many incidents happen a day in San Mateo County and not require communicating all of them to the public as it would be unreasonable and irresponsible. Information needs to be accurate and also not jeopardize the integrity of an investigation. I agree will case closed.Who concealed any facts in this case? The news reported the story and a week later the suspect was arrested. An unfortunate incident and perhaps a learning experience to improve communications with the person in charge of Samtram & Cal Train incidents.
In the meantime confirm no further public incidents occured between this discussed incident and the suspect arrest. Just another opinion!
I get the feeling that “Other explanations” watches Fox News all day, constantly screaming at his TV. Nobody listens. Nobody cares. Then he finds this newssite and does his best Sean Hannity impersonation. He wants somebody to agree with his kooky ideas. But alas nobody cares.
“Other explanations” provides a knee-jerk reaction that goes something like this — law enforcement can do no wrong, it’s the media’s fault for writing about anything that could be improved.
First, there were no fellow conspirators, just a crazy guy on the loose that the public should have known about. Not informing the public was just rolling the dice, betting he wouldn’t strike again.
“Other explanation” asks: “When a crime happens on the trains when and who is responsible to inform the San Mateo Sheriff?”
I would presume that the sheriff was aware of this incident the moment the Good Samaritan called the sheriff at 911. And it was sheriff’s deputies who responded.
“Other explanation” says: “Perhaps the media will twist any scenario to make law enforcement look bad for the sake of a dramatic story.”
I’m missing something — what did the media twist? This guy threatened one person and attacked another, and it was caught on videotape. The facts are the facts.
This appears to me to be a case of a newspaper reporting something that happened in the community so that residents could protect themselves. The editorial prompts the sheriff into doing a better job. Guess “Other Explanation” disagrees.
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“Unnecessary” complains “the Sheriff department did in fact report this to the news and the newspapers did write about it.” No argument there. They did so 9 days after the fact. During those 9 days, the suspect could have attacked others. To keep the whole thing silent is rolling the dice, hoping that this mental patient didn’t strike again. Raising concerns about this 9-day-delay isn’t “unnecessary drama,” it’s asking sheriff’s deputies to act professionally.
[Post removed — Terms of Use violation. Same person is using two different names to comment on the thread, a Terms of Use violation. Please, no sock puppets.]
Timeline in the Brian Weisl case.
December 23 — Weisl allegedly harasses a woman at the San Carlos Caltrain station and attacks a bystander who tried to protect her
Nine days elapse.
January 1 — Detectives arrest Weisl in South San Francisco; attack is revealed to the news media and public.
As the timeline shows, Christmas happened between the attack and the arrest of the suspect. The most likely explanation for the delay was that the sheriff’s office took Christmas off. Who cares that a violent mental patient was on the loose?