No arrests have been made for the Jan. 6 knife pulling incident or Jan. 10 WXOU larceny. The suspects in both cases have been identified, however.

“From my understanding, they have a suspect already and I think they’re still trying to ready the case for prosecution,” said Phil Berard, general manager of WXOU and cinema studies student.

According to Lieutenant Mel Gilroy of the Oakland University Police Department, an arrest warrant request for the WXOU suspect is currently being reviewed by the prosecutor, however the warrant is not for the WXOU case.

The suspect is also believed to be involved in crimes that took place in other areas of the Oakland Center, for which an arrest warrant is currently being pursued.

“Investigations often take some time. We have to be able to provide evidence to support our beliefs in these cases,” Gilroy said. “We obviously have a focus in these investigations.”

Berard said that he understood that the police had to follow protocol that he wasn’t very familiar with, however it is also difficult to be patient and wait to see how the stolen equipment will be replaced.

“We all felt real violated by what happened, and betrayed, because you know, the person that committed the crime work(ed) here, so we’re all pretty blood thirsty.” Berard said. “I don’t feel that the police aren’t working on our case, and I can’t even say that they aren’t working their hardest, we just wish the process moved a little quicker.”

The Oakland County Prosecutor could not be reached for comment on this case.

An arrest warrant request for the suspect of the Jan. 10 crime is currently pending. Gilroy said that the suspect will be arrested once the warrant is issued.

According to Captain Mark Gordon of OUPD, there are many stages in arresting a suspect in a crime.

When crimes occur, victims must file a police report. The police department then tries to identify a suspect using a variety of methods including reviewing any video that was taken, gathering witness statements, victims statements and suspect statements.

Sometimes there is not enough information for suspects to be identified, and if this is so, the case remains open.

Once the police have as much information as they can gather about the crime, they present a prosecutor’s package to the county explaining why this case should be pursued in court. The package can then take 24 hours to a week and a half for the prosecutor to review. If the suspect is already taken into custody because community safety is at risk, then the processing time is shorter.

After the prosecutor returns the package, three things may happen. An arrest warrant is issued for the suspect, a furtherance is ordered, meaning that more information is needed before a warrant may be issued or the warrant request is denied.

If OUPD is given the arrest warrant they then must contact the suspect. The suspect is advised that an arrest warrant has been issued and that he must turn himself in for processing. At this point, the police are seeking cooperation on behalf of the suspect.

The suspect is then taken before the magistrate at the 52-3 Oakland County District Court for an arraignment. Here a not guilty plea is entered and a bond is set based on the warrant and crime. The bond, which may be cash or a personal word to appear in court, ensures that the suspect will show up for the next court hearing.

If a cash bond has been posted, it is returned to the suspect at the next court appearance.

Two weeks after the arraignment, the suspect attends a preliminary exam where he or she may enter a guilty, not guilty or no contest plea. If the suspect pleas guilty, a sentencing date is established.

If the suspect pleas not guilty, then the subsequent steps depend on the type of crime. If the crime is a misdemeanour then a trial is set up in district court. If the crime is a felony, the case goes to a circuit court and sentencing is scheduled after.

There are a few places in this process that may slow down the prosecution of a suspect. Sometimes it may take a while for a suspect to be identified. A furtherance can also hold up the process. Strategies the defense attorney may take advantage of can cause delays in the process as well.

Captain Gordon attributes the high rate of solving campus crime to the good relationship the department has with the community. He said due to the bond between the OU community and the police, witnesses come forward more easily than in areas where the police may not be respected.

“We don’t solves all of the cases,” Gordon said, “but we do solve many of them.”

 

Contact campus editor Sarah Hunton via email at [email protected]