GopherHooops posted this message from Chief Hestness

[GopherLady]

Thank you GopherHoops - I thought this deserved it's own thread, particular if people stopped reading, or didn't want to sift through the pages of the Myron Laptop Tweet thread.

GopherHoops was kind enough to get some clarification from the UMPD side of things for the laptop theft case. Here is his post:

GopherHoops GopherHoops is online now
Junior Member

Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 15
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I don’t have the time or interest to read blogs, but if you wanted to pass on the investigative status of the Territorial burglary, it is as follows:

First it would have served no investigative purpose for UMPD to name Royce White or anyone else as a suspect in an open investigation and never did.

After 35 years of police service, 28 at the city and 7 at the University I know a few things. The evidence is what it is. We have great detectives at UMPD, but you can’t manufacture evidence or always compel enough cooperation to always get to the bottom of things. We take leads as far as they can go. Sometimes you don’t get a definitive answer. You can’t close and unsolved case, they are continued open pending further leads or information. That is the most common outcome in all police agencies. That is not a satisfying outcome, but that is the reality. When someone becomes the subject of speculation in public, we’d much prefer to definitively charge or clear that person. It is not always possible.

Greg Hestness

Assistant Vice President
Chief of Police
University of Minnesota

 

[Section201]

at this point

I have not been a defender of RW and his "situations" but at this point I have to say, suit him up.

Should he languish in this no man's land forever? I think not. Some one needs to fish or cut bait.

IMHO.

 

[Brew_recruit]

so what he just said was royce is not a suspect in the theft. So basically Royce *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#ed up in another area that is not public, and that is why he is not playing.


Unless the umpd officer lied in that email. I have seen with my own 2 eyes the UMPD lie to try and make a case, so that would not surprise me.

 

[Ron Johnson Super Fan]

No, what he said was that "it would have served no investigative purpose for UMPD to name Royce White or anyone else as a suspect in an open investigation and never did." That's a huge, erroneous to jump to say that he is not a suspect.

 

[Brew_recruit]

No, what he said was that "it would have served no investigative purpose for UMPD to name Royce White or anyone else as a suspect in an open investigation and never did." That's a huge, erroneous to jump to say that he is not a suspect.

did you realize that what you just wrote was a HUGE contradiction. He is not named a suspect, but he is a suspect?? COMMON MAN

 

[josh087]

I'll say it for the Thousandth time - If my laptop had been stolen out of my unlocked room - no matter how many witnesses there were, if there weren't a high profile athlete involved, the U of M police would have taken about 24 hours, called me up, said "sorry kid, better lock your door next time," and that would have been that. This is beyond ridiculous - talk about campus police just trying to get some print.

 

[Rouser]

Why can't you close an unsolved case? If Royce is guilty...lets get it out of the way so we can move on... But in general...why keep a laptop theft / return open for so long. Seems like a complete waste of resources. Also...35 years on the force only gets you an AVP? Ouch.

 

[Ron Johnson Super Fan]

did you realize that what you just wrote was a HUGE contradiction. He is not named a suspect, but he is a suspect?? COMMON MAN

The UMPD has not officially named him a suspect. That does not mean he is not considered a suspect internally within the department. He was merely saying that it would do nothing for their investigation to announce to the world that White was a suspect in the case.

 

[josh087]

A story about campus police - this one is truly hilarious. Our broadcast journalism professor at the U knew that the meter maid was so notorious he wanted a profile news piece on her - but nobody could get the interview. I was always skeptical - "what is the big deal about campus police," I wondered.

Then one day I parked outside of Northrop to go run into Murphy hall (2 buildings down) to hand in a paper. The meters outside of Northrop had a 12 minute limit (one quarter) at the time - not sure what it is now. As I pull up to the meter, I see the campus police buggy pull into the circle behind me. I plop my quarter into the meter and jog toward my building to drop off the paper as a glance at my watch. Exactly 5 minutes later I come up the steps as I get a view of my parked car by the meter. Amazingly, the meter maid is literally sitting there, engine running, seemingly waiting for my meter to expire. I am the only car there. So I decide to see just how long she is intending to sit there. I wait 6 more minutes until there is only 1 minute left on the meter - and she is still there. So I jog up to my car, and look at her. She is literally starting to write the ticket even though the meter is not yet expired. She catches my eye - I give her a disapproving look and a horizontal shake of the head, and she looks dumbfounded. I get in my car and drive away.

My only thought afterward, and to this day is, do the campus police have anything better to do? Seems like such a waste.

 

[Swede]

did you realize that what you just wrote was a HUGE contradiction. He is not named a suspect, but he is a suspect?? COMMON MAN

There is no status or card that you get to carry around if the cops think you did something. In other words, "suspect" is not a formal designation or status, except in the eye of the media and the crime/drama television watching public.

 

[Brew_recruit]

there is only so much time spent planing on how to bust house parties, they have to fill their time some other way.

 

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

I'll say it for the Thousandth time - If my laptop had been stolen out of my unlocked room - no matter how many witnesses there were, if there weren't a high profile athlete involved, the U of M police would have taken about 24 hours, called me up, said "sorry kid, better lock your door next time," and that would have been that. This is beyond ridiculous - talk about campus police just trying to get some print.

what he said.....

 

[UpnorthGo4]

We all love cops. Except when we don't. Read between the lines. The UMPD most likely has evidence that places Royce White at the scene of the crime. Plus - White probably has not been cooperating with their investigation. Plus - White's presence in the dorm might have been in violation of restrictions imposed on him by the U Administration. Plus - White pleaded guilty to theft at the MOA. Plus - Maturi's recent comments indicate that White might have committed other infractions that have not been made public. Plus - White's attitude and demeanor are anything but repentant for his recent behavior. This all adds up to no Gopher basketball for Royce White this year.

 

[GopherHomer]

I find it hard to believe that Royce has committed any other infractions that we don't know about. The local media was in full on witch-hunt mode a couple of weeks ago. If Royce would have neglected to wash his hands after using the bathroom, Fox 9 would have led their program with the breaking news.