| At times, definitions and clarifications will help the public further understand information provided by the media and the department. SCMPD believes in providing as much transparancy as possible, while still protecting the integrity of investigations, along with the rights of victims, witnesses and suspects.
Using this page, and links to YouTube for streaming video where possible, we aim to provide information that will help empowering our community to work with us to make it a safer place for everyone.
Thursday, July 16: Savannah Morning News
STORY: County parks battle lewd acts
FOR THE RECORD:
The article focuses on Tom Triplett Community Park. Though the park is located within Chatham County it falls within the city limits of Pooler thus enforcement of the park is conducted by the Pooler Police Department and not Savannah-Chatham Metro Police. The article is written in a way where the reader can easily assume it's patrolled by Metro Police. Metro Police is constantly patrolling parks and boat ramps within its jurisdiction to include uniform patrols and undercover operations. This is noted in the article where it mentions several recent arrests at local parks within Metro's jurisdiction. Metro Police continues to work closely with various departments and the community to address these types of lewd behavior.
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Wednesday, February 18: Savannah Morning News
STORY: Police not amused by toy-gun robbers
FOR THE RECORD:
The story leads with the line "Three Savannah teenagers ...". In fact, the two arrestees are teens. However, police have not identified the third suspect and do not know his age nor where he is from.
Wednesday, February 18: Savannah Morning News
STORY: Public Safety Summary
FOR THE RECORD:
The story says "A man was shot in the leg during an argument". In fact, the victim and witnesses have provided conflicting stories and police have not conclusively concluded what the motive was for the shooting.
Tuesday, January 27: Savannah Morning News
STORY: Bacon Park Meeting Focuses on Crime
FOR THE RECORD:
The story mentions there have been 11 serious crimes in Bacon Park during the past three months. Arrests were made within days of the aggravated assault (domestic-related), the carjacking and one of the auto thefts.
Saturday, January 3: WJCL 11:00 p.m. News
STORY: Burglary suspect shot
FOR THE RECORD:
The terms "home invasion" and "robbery" were used during this story. In fact, this was an attempted burglary.
Police use various terms to describe crime. Below are simplified definitions of the three terms:
Burglary: entering a building unlawfully with intent to commit a felony or to steal property - there is no contact with a victim in burglaries
Robbery: Taking property of another, during which the person being robbed is in fear of personal violence
Home Invasion: Is not a criminal code term, but often refers to a robbery that takes place within a home or residence.
Saturday, January 3: Savannah Morning News
STORY: Embattled officers' records still sealed
FOR THE RECORD:
The term "sealed" means that files will never be available for public review. In the case of one of the officers, a federal investigation has been launched and the files are unavailable because it is now an active investigation.
In the other case, once the city has completed its process, the files will be available.
In no way are either records "sealed".
SCMPD has asked for a correction from the Savannah Morning News
Tuesday, December 30: Savannah Morning News
The Savannah Mornng News printed a front-page story about police "limiting" access to records.
The media and public have full access to records as they did in the past. However, a clipboard that was available at the front desk with copies of un-redacted preliminary reports has been removed as the department moves to electronic report writing.
All reports are available and SCMPD is in full compliance with the Georgia Open Records Act.
Making un-redacted reports available to the public is an infringement of privacy rights. Information such as full names, date of birth, social security number and home addresses are regular included in preliminary reports and are not legally available to the public.
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