Police in Virginia to Warn Victims About Interviews

FAIRFAX, Va. — Police in this Washington suburb plan to start telling crime victims to notify authorities before talking to the media, an action believed to be unprecedented in the United States.

Starting next month, victims and witnesses involved in high-profile crimes will be given business cards telling them they don’t have to talk to reporters, according to Fairfax County Police spokesman Warren Carmichael. The cards will also advise them to consult police first if they do decide to give interviews.

Carmichael said the department began considering the card in October after a local TV reporter disclosed the identity of a child who had been approached by a suspected child molester. At the time, the suspect was still at large. Carmichael says the reporter’s actions compromised the safety of the boy and his mother, who was interviewed for the story.

Kyle E. Niederpruem, president of the Society of Professional Journalists, said that victims or their relatives often want to talk to reporters and that Fairfax County is overreacting to one incident.

“I have not heard of a police agency anywhere in the country doing this,” Niederpruem said.

John Stein, deputy director of the Washington-based National Organization for Victim Assistance, said he thinks the cards are a good idea.