Columbine Rebuttal

[Guest guest]

Hello Everyone

Please forgive me if this posts three times.....I didn't intend for that to

happen but when my posts from 1900 and 2100 didn't show, I thought I would

try one more time!!!!

It's been quite a while since I have posted anything regarding Columbine, but

the uproar over the release of the tapes has prompted me into replying.

A couple of things to set the record straight:

1. The tapes were released after receiving a court order mandating that

they be released. The release is being handled via the Jefferson County

Attorney's Office, not the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.

2. Yes, there is a $25 charge for the tape. That charge is for

duplicating the tape. (Just for everyone's information, when a citizen

wants a copy of a dispatch tape, we charge them $20---whether it is a two

minute call or a 2 hour call, so the $25 is reasonable fora video tape)

3. The " training tape " that everyone is having the heartburn over was a

tape shot by the Littleton Fire Department as a training tape. I had no

idea until yesterday that the tape had been set to three different songs

that all had pertinent lyrics in them. Littleton Fire Department had every

right to be inside the school and to shoot this tape. They are the

primary fire department for the Columbine High School.

4. The video that some of the parents have reacted to publically was the

video shot by the KCNC Channel 4 news helicopter. That footage was raw

footage of the situation, being televised world-wide AS IT HAPPENED. In

many of the " post-live " replays of the footage, the shots of

being moved by the fire department personnel was edited out.

Unfortunately, the shots of Danny Rohrbaugh at the foot of the stairs has

been played over and over again.

5. The video that was shot by the Sheriff's Department is the video from

inside the school---specifically the footage of the library. This was

evidenciary tape that was shot after the removal of the bodies, showing

where different bits of evidence was located. Yes, there are outline

markings of the bodies and tags naming each victim. Yes, there is blood.

Remember, this is a law enforcement evidence tape.

6. The video from the cafeteria showing the students scattering is the

tape that was seized from the survellience cameras that are in the

cafeteria. There was major damage in the cafeteria from the explosive

devices, but no one was shot in the cafeteria.

I want to thank everyone for the support that you have shown us, the

dispatchers at the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, over this last year.

The kind words that we received last week during the anniversary made coming

to work much easier.

I heard on the local evening news tonight that the Cohen brothers who wrote

and performed " Columbine, Friend of Mine " are upset that their song was also

included in the fire department video without their permission. The

recording companies for the other two artists have demanded their songs be

removed from the video or that they be compensentated for the use of the

songs. This again, has nothing to do with the Jefferson County Sheriff's

Office......

Many of you have seen the presentation that was put together by the Jefferson

County Sheriff's Office. Many more of you have seen the presentation put

together by me from a Communications standpoint. As Kathy so eloquently put

it, " prepare yourselves for dry presentations " when there is training on

major incidents--there can be nothing but backlash about what is presented in

the future.

As one local newscaster just put it in a commentary-- " Be careful of what you

wish for--The scenes, the sounds are indelibelly ingrained in our minds with

this video. It has opened healed wounds. The families sued to be allowed

to see these videos. They won. The videos were released, but that makes

them a matter of public record. This is not what the families wanted. Be

careful of what you wish for "

And in closing, what about the first responders and their reactions to all of

this? We are having to deal with the nasty phone calls from the irate

citizenery who don't understand that we have no control over what is

happening with this either. It has been a rough few days around the

office.....

Cline

Communications Supervisor

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office

Golden,CO