SECRECY BY POLICE NO SURPRISE

Experts See Logic Behind Lack Of Public Information

WINNIPEG police are reluctant to reveal details of Thursday's
shooting of three officers because they fear jeopardizing the court
process, say law-enforcement experts.

Police have declined to answer repeated media questions, such as:

* Was the shotgun allegedly used to shoot at officers properly registered?

* Did police know before the raid that there were guns inside the house?

* Was one officer wounded by "friendly fire", shots fired by another
officer at the scene?

* How and why was the suspect wounded? * Was the wounded suspect
denied pain medication when he was interrogated, as the suspect's
family and lawyer allege?

* What type of drugs were police seeking when they executed the search warrant?

* What drugs, if any, did they seize?

Criminology experts said yesterday that, by not answering such
questions, police are trying to protect an ongoing investigation and
avoid potential public relations pitfalls.

"Obviously, the police will retain information if it's important for
the investigation that it not get out," said Robert Gordon, director
of Simon Fraser University's School of Criminology. "I guess they
also would not want to release information that could paint them in a
bad light, like any other organization."

He said police across Canada have become more sophisticated in the
last decade about how they release information.

"The police are much more media-savvy now... they have specific
people who make all the announcements on their behalf for very
obvious reasons. It's a consistent message coming from a consistent
place, or consistent person," he said.

"The members of any organization, whether it be the bank, or the
police department, or the Winnipeg Free Press... they're going to do
what they need to do to protect their organization and the
individuals in it, if they think they're under attack." Another
criminology expert concurred.

"I think (the Winnipeg Police Service) want to be absolutely careful
before saying what happened, because they're going to be
second-guessed from every side on this issue, and I think they just
want to be really, really careful," said Steven Kohm, assistant
professor at the University of Winnipeg's Department of Criminal
Justice. Kohm said the police service's approach wasn't very
surprising, given the heightened media attention to the incident.