The hordes of national media converging on Madison last week with video cameras and tape recorders aimed pointedly at the community put unbelievable pressure on the city's police department. Searching for salacious details to top the nightly news, the media constantly beleaguered the Madison Police Department with loaded questions and expected conjectures.
Thankfully, the police department remained admirably objective and impartial under the direction of Acting Madison Police Chief Noble Wray. The department never speculated or fueled rumors and supported the alleged victim throughout the investigation.
Much harm has been done by this brouhaha-it is seemingly a girl-who-cried-wolf story that will instantly put into question the credibility of missing persons nationwide. But the fact that the Madison Police Department investigated all aspects of the story before making a judgement is promising-it shows that abductions will continue to be taken seriously in the future.
A telling moment came at a press conference Friday morning, before police announced they did not believe Audrey Seiler's claims. Despite visible exasperation on the part of the media, Wray stayed his course and said only \inconsistencies appeared"" during the investigation. It was not until concrete evidence had been reviewed that the police department finally announced their decision.
In fact, the grace Wray held under pressure shows he is the right candidate to head the police department. He and Capt. Cheryll Ann Maples are competing to replace Richard Williams' position as police chief. Williams retired Friday as the Seiler case reached a crescendo, and Wray took the baton and kept running.
Colleagues of Wray have outward praise for the acting chief, calling him a ""real visionary"" and someone who is committed to improving the department through tremendous effort.
The fate of Seiler herself remains uncertain and the university community, like the police department, should not jump to conclusions about the situation or fuel unfounded rumors. Though the effects of this case are reprehensible and will dominate campus for quite a long time, students should not pre-emptively vilify an individual whose mental status is unknown.
