In the wake of the January murder of graduate student Abhijit Mahato, Duke students and local community members looked to the Durham Police Department for answers.
But some city politicians said the Department fails to communicate effectively with the media, which they said was essential for distributing important crime-related information to the public.
City Councilman Eugene Brown said he hopes Chief Jose Lopez, who was appointed in July, can restore the transparency the organization needs.
"We need to keep in mind that the Police Department is a public building and not a private bunker," Brown said. "When questions are asked about what's happening vis-a-vis public safety, there should be a quick and ready and honest response."
Lopez did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Kammie Michael, public information officer and public relations coordinator for DPD, declined to comment.
City Manager Patrick Baker said he called a meeting several weeks ago among DPD and members of the press in an effort to foster communication.
"Quite frankly, I felt like at times I was acting as the Police Department's [Public Information Officer]," Baker said. "I think this meeting came out of the sense of my own frustration-it was clear that good lines of communication didn't really exist."
Baker added that the meeting served as a forum for sharing information and voicing concerns about both the Police Department and the media.
Bob Ashley, editor of The (Durham) Herald-Sun, expressed dissatisfaction with the Department's speed of response.
"Our sense of urgency doesn't always seem to be shared," he said. "I can't tell whether it's just sort of embedded culture or whether it's a conscious decision on some level."
Ashley added that during the Mahato case, DPD held fewer press conferences and circulated less information than the Chapel Hill Police Department did when University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student body president and senior Eve Carson was murdered March 5.
DPD did not distribute any press releases related to the Mahato murder until the March 13 capture of 17-year-old suspect Laurence Lovette.
John Burness, senior vice president for public affairs and government relations, said Duke was ready to offer a reward for information relating to the Mahato case, but had stopped seeking information when suspect Stephen Oates was indicted with the murder Feb. 5. DPD, however, continued to look for suspects following Oates' capture, but Burness said he had been unaware that the case was still open.
"There certainly have been times when the community-including the Duke community-haven't quite understood what the Durham Police Department was doing and why," he said.
Burness added that the Police Department might have its reasons to keep sensitive information quiet. "[Police] are trying to get to the bad people, as it were, and if it's known that they are looking for them, its harder to get them."
Baker said the city is planning to add at least one more person to the media relations department of DPD. He added that he thinks DPD does not intentionally hide information that is appropriate for release.
"I don't know if there will ever be a situation where everybody can be happy," he said. "The media is always going to want more information than we can give them."
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