"If I knew the serial killer was living next door to me? I wouldn't call and tell anybody on him -- but I'd probably move. But I'm not going to call and be like... the serial killer's in 4E.'" - Cameron Giles
"It's like we're saying to the criminals, You can have our community.... Do anything you want and we will either deal with it ourselves or we'll simply ignore it." - Geoffrey Canada
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Stu Bykofsky has been a columnist with the Philadelphia Daily News since 1987. Prior to the column, his assignments included theater critic, TV critic, copy editor, general assignment features reporter. A native of New York City, Stu has won numerous public service and journalism awards. His professional affiliations include the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and Philadelphia's Pen and Pencil Club.
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Stu Bykofsky - Journalists should stop usin' 'snitchin'
But first, where did "stop snitchin' " start?
With my mother, and maybe yours.
Mama cautioned us against snitching. No one likes a tattletale, she said. She was talking about informing on friends, or siblings, over minor infractions. She never meant for us to turn our backs when we saw real crime.
Jump forward a few decades and we see Mama's half-joking advice has morphed into a serious street creed in some communities - black, brown, yellow and white. Wherever thug culture is glorified it carries with it, like a leaf on the wind, the crossover "stop snitchin' " subculture.
I say crossover because the Mafia popularized an earlier brand of "stop snitching" called omerta, which usually applied only to members of the "club," those who followed the code. Other criminal cultures also developed codes of silence.
There is some debate about whether "stop snitchin' " applies to everyone, or just to those who live a criminal life and are required to follow the code.
Some think it's the latter, but Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Joe Fox is not among them.
In thug life, "A snitch is someone who talks to the police, period." He uses rapper Cam'ron as an example.
Earlier this year, Cam'ron told Anderson Cooper on "60 Minutes" that he wouldn't snitch if he was living next door to a serial murderer. "No, I wouldn't call and tell anybody on him," Cam'ron said. "But I'd probably move."
Nice. Cam'ron will protect his bony ass but let his neighbors fend for themselves. What a role model.
Cam'ron can't see it, but there are times when a decent human being must talk to the police.
This thug code has got to go and take "stop snitchin' " with it.
The media has been an enabler of the anti-snitch mentality. Words have power and the word "snitch," like the word "rat," slurs would-be witnesses.
"Anyone who refers to a witness as a snitch is hurting us," says homicide Lt. Phil Riehl.
The media has done a lot of hurting.
Lexis-Nexis showed that the Daily News has used the word "snitch" 258 times since 1994. The Inquirer used it 245 times.
Some of the uses were passing references, or direct quotes, or in letters to the editor, but the word is in heavy rotation.
In my small-bore, unscientific survey, the L.A. Times led the pack, using "snitch" 412 times since then, followed by the Washington Post, with 349 mentions. Then came the Miami Herald with 319, the N.Y. Times with 194, the Detroit Free Press with 88. USA Today brought up the rear with 67 uses.
The press is part of the problem. When we use the word, we buy into thug culture and validate their values. If you refer to a witness as a snitch, you're part of the problem, too.
"No person of strong moral character would refer to a witness as a snitch," says Riehl, who sees stony faces and zipped lips at crime scenes every day.
Journalists ought to drop the word.
No formal ban, just a voluntary red-lining - as we'd like record labels to do with the "N-word."
Wouldn't we? I would.
Instead of snitch, we might use "cooperating witnesses," or "informants," or "responsible citizens."
Maybe those aren't the best terms. I am open to suggestion.
But I'm closed to insulting those who bravely come forward, sometimes at the risk of their lives.
I will never again call a cooperating witness a snitch. I take the pledge. Will you?
