When SVU Detective Richard Hy unveiled his very serious allegations regarding his claims that the Buffalo Public Schools were actively hiding cases of abuse from police, it ignited a firestorm. People all across the nation learned about it from Hy's statements on the "Unsubscribe Podcast." Many, including at least some in the media, took issue with the venue in which he revealed these allegations.
I called both the schools and the media evil for this.
However, either entity could have redeemed itself simply by doing the right thing.
I'm unsurprised that the schools aren't doing more, but they did at least launch a third-party investigation. You can believe it'll be independent if you like, though I'm skeptical. Still, it's a start.
As for the media, they're doing even less.
WGRZ, one of the local TV stations, has had numerous reports on this, but so far, the only investigation they've done is to ask how many police calls have been made to area schools and of what type. This seems like an attempt to discredit Hy's claims, which is ridiculous as he'd never claimed the police were never called. In fact, he explicitly told me about one Buffalo school that had worked well with him. That alone proves Hy never claimed the police were never called.
WGRZ does acknowledge that these calls don't reflect what was really going on, but it just seems like a strange direction to focus on unless you're trying to cover for the schools.
And the truth of the matter is that they're more on top of it than WIVB. They covered the initial allegations and, seemingly, little else beyond the school system's response.
The DA's office issued a statement at the time that said:
The Erie County District Attorney’s Office is committed to the thorough investigation and prosecution of any crime against a child. We continue to handle any allegation of sexual assault, child abuse and tampering with evidence with the utmost seriousness. The District Attorney is aware of the statements made by a member of the Buffalo Police Department regarding the Buffalo Public School District in a recent podcast. While we understand these statements have raised concerns about the safety and well-being of children in our community, our office cannot comment at this time as to not compromise any potential investigation that may relate to those public comments. Additionally, some statements made during the podcast involve an ongoing criminal case, and our office does not comment on any matter currently pending prosecution.
Yet this has been largely glossed over, buried deeper into the initial stories on the allegations, with absolutely no follow-up.
I have, though. Director of Public Relations & Communications for the DA's office, Kait Munro, said, "Our office cannot confirm or deny as to not compromise any potential investigation or ongoing criminal case."
That alone should be a story in and of itself. If they're not saying they're not going to investigate, that suggests they are but can't say it to not give certain parties time to destroy evidence.
See, it wasn't that hard.
Even so, they also don't seem to have reached out to Gov. Kathy Hochul's office, either. I did, though, again, I haven't heard back by the time this piece goes live.
This isn't my wheelhouse. This is not the sort of thing I normally do, yet I also seem to be doing more than the full-time, professional "journalists" in Buffalo who can't seem to be bothered to look into some serious allegations. This is something that they should be salivating over as journalists. They should be licking their chops over the chance to make a name for themselves and win awards that will move them onto bigger and better things.
They're just too uninterested.
Why?
Because Richard Hy is a police officer who has been accused of being less than nice? Because he doesn't talk sweetly to suspects who are resisting arrest?
Screw. That. Noise.
No, these so-called journalists are lying down on the job and lying down for the schools. They're not taking these allegations seriously and aren't interested in pushing the powers that be for answers, and I'm not talking just about the schools. The DA's office, New York Attorney General Letitia James's office, Hochul's office, anyone.
And the kicker is that this isn't unique to Buffalo, from what I can tell. How common it might be is unknown, but it can't be allowed to stand, and local media can't be allowed to stick their heads in the sand and just pretend it's not really a thing.
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