Usually, when someone is charged with murder, their name is all over police statements, and then all over the media. But when police neglect to release that information—and some forces have been doing that more and more frequently—the murder itself can go missing. From the media, from the conversation, and eventually from the statistics kept that guide community safety policies.
Why have police begun withholding the name of people accused of murder, and what are the ramifications for the criminal justice system and vulnerable communities?
GUEST: Alyshah Hasham, Toronto Star courts reporter