Drew Armstrong: Penn Police and the art of the spin cycle

The Penn and Philadelphia police departments spun this campus, and this paper, pretty well. After David Dantzler-Wolfe disappeared on Dec. 10, The Daily Pennsylvanian ran a series of articles tracking the case, including a flattering portrait commemorating his time at Penn. When the DP revealed last Friday that the police may or may not have a warrant out for Dantzler-Wolfe's arrest for breaking into a female student's room and videotaping her, the story changed. Dantzler-Wolfe went from charming a cappella singer and all-around nice guy to possibly a criminal. Special Services Director Pat Brennan said of Dantzler-Wolfe, "He's not on our campus. He's not a threat to our community." When asked if there was a warrant for Dantzler-Wolfe's arrest, Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said, "Yes and no." The police seem to believe that Dantzler-Wolfe is alive. From all reports, they've been treating Dantzler-Wolfe like a fugitive, under the assumption that he was on the run. Students, on the other hand, had been led to believe that he had killed himself, been abducted or was murdered. The mystery was unsettling to the campus. A Jan. 14 DP article interviewed a number of students concerned for their own safety after Dantzler-Wolfe's disappearance. For all we knew, there was a killer at work in West Philadelphia. The police weren't too happy about the DP getting the story -- they asked the DP not to run the story because they were afraid that Dantzler-Wolfe would read the story and suffer emotional distress. Officials later changed their tune, saying that it would decrease the likelihood of Dantzler-Wolfe turning himself in. With the information that came out in Friday's story, it's obvious that Dantzler-Wolfe had a motive to go on the run. In a single day, he went from Dantzler-Wolfe the victim to Dantzler-Wolfe the criminal in the eyes of many readers. Rush presumably didn't let on about the investigation because it was good police strategy. Those who knew Dantzler-Wolfe -- his friends, family, even those who just saw his picture in the paper -- were far more likely to lend a hand in the search if they believe in Dantzler-Wolfe the victim. The search for Dantzler-Wolfe the petty fugitive doesn't get the same community support. The disclosure of the alleged videotaping incident may have cost Rush's police force the eyes and ears of thousands of students sympathetic to Dantzler-Wolfe's family. I'm not trying to ascribe some sinister motive to Rush and Penn's safety personnel, spinning the campus for their own personal benefit. Their most pressing interest was and still is getting Dantzler-Wolfe back alive -- not bringing him up on what can't amount to much more than some relatively small charges. Another question has come up in the days following Friday's DP story about the videotape incident: Should the DP have run the story? No question, it makes Dantzler-Wolfe look bad. And perhaps it hampers the investigation into Dantzler-Wolfe's disappearance and the alleged videotaping. He went from a young man of promise and potential to someone much more complicated. If he is dead, he will be remembered less fondly in the minds of those who didn't know him because of the new information. The news couldn't have made his family feel better, knowing that their son's questionable behavior has been plastered on the front page of the paper, only to be rewashed in the news cycle over the next few weeks. But this isn't a pretty game. The police spun the news, and the news spun the campus, leaving many students afraid for their own safety. The police kept part of the truth from us perhaps in an effort to do their job -- even if it meant that Dantzler-Wolfe's possible return might be more handcuffs than hero's welcome and that students traveled the nighttime sidewalks with a feeling of unease. As for running the story -- it's the news, it happened and, while perhaps it sullies Dantzler-Wolfe's name, it's the truth that matters. Drew Armstrong is a senior English major from Ann Arbor, Mich.

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