West Point Police discuss criminals withholding information

WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI) – Investigating crimes can be difficult under the best of circumstances, but police often find themselves working through resistance from an unlikely source – crime victims.

Whether it’s the so-called Code of the Street, Fear of retaliation, or desire for revenge, West Point Police Chief Avery Cook says they have had a number of cases where the victims stonewall them by withholding information and even giving false statements.

Cook says that not only allows the criminals to go unpunished but often leads to even more violence.

“They’ll be just got shot, been a victim of a terrible incident, but they won’t cooperate. Then that spurs off into something else, ’cause they’re going to want to retaliate against that person that shot ’em. They know who did it, but they won’t cooperate and tell us who did it,” said Chief Avery Cook, West Point Police Department.

Area law enforcement officers remind you that you can always report information anonymously through things like Crime Stoppers and the P-3 reporting app.