THE SCALE OF JUSTICE TIPS :

Tips Led to Fast Arrest in Runnion Killing (Los Angeles Times, July 21, 2002)

It was late Wednesday morning, and the army of detectives investigating the kidnapping and murder of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion was still at square one.

A day and a half after her kidnapping and nearly a day after her body was discovered, a massive dragnet had checked out scores of sex offenders, pulled over dozens of green cars and fielded hundreds of tips--but still produced little to go on. FBI profilers privately predicted they were in for a long search to identify the killer.

Then, about noon, a caller provided a name that transformed the investigation. Check out Alejandro Avila, the caller said. Within a few hours, two more people had called with the same advice.

So began a frenetic two days of police work that ended with Avila's arrest Friday. The quick result contrasts sharply with other high-profile abduction cases around the country, some of which remain under investigation.

Police officials Saturday said three factors were crucial in making a speedy arrest: a clear description of the suspect supplied by Samantha's 6-year-old playmate, finding the body within a day and the phone calls pointing them in Avila's direction.

"If his name hadn't come up, we'd still be checking every sex registrant in California, polygraphing them, checking alibis," said one law enforcement source, adding that the trail would ultimately have proved fruitless because Avila wasn't a registered sex offender.

If the Bush Administration is allowed to impose its TIPS program, this is the kind of thing we could see. Do we really want to become the kind of country where citizens inform on each other, rather than minding their own business? This poor guy might still be out walking the street, a free man, if only people would follow the Mafia's code of silence. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 21, 2002 11:10 PM