POLICE TIP: A stabbing on social media can just be a scuffle in real life

ALTON - Scanner traffic in the Alton Police Department received a call for a stabbing Sunday night around 11:45 p.m. 

By the time police arrived on the scene, however, they discovered that alleged "stabbing" was the result of what Alton Police Chief Jason "Jake" Simmons described as a "domestic dispute." Reports of a stabbing on social media were posted on the "Madison County Illinois Scanner Page," a Facebook page, which has nearly 20,000 followers, which publishes information garnered from scanner traffic. 

Simmons said the scanner call most likely said something similar to that. He confirmed an incident did occur in that area, but it was not a stabbing. He said there was a domestic dispute in which one of the people involved took the vehicle of another after a scuffle. The closest thing to a stabbing occurring last night, he said, was when one of the involved parties was injured by keys, causing bleeding. 

"I understand his philosophy," Simmons said of Chris Rhodes, who moderates that Facebook page. "Putting out information when he hears it for the benefit of the public knowledge has benefits. People should know information coming over the radio is usually what is called to 911 dispatchers. Callers may not have even witnessed the incident when they call it in." 

He added "social media has its place," saying the scanner page is invaluable, assuming people understand scanner calls often differ from the situation police find when they arrive at a location. He said people following such pages should be aware of how the calls are aggregated. 

"Social media has its place," Simmons reiterated. "It is great when we want to get information out there and quell certain situations, but people need to be careful when they start believing too much of what they read." 

Currently, the report has not been finished on last night's incident, being it occurred just before midnight, but more information will probably not be available, even when the report is finished. Simmons said it is categorized as a domestic dispute - an issue on which Simmons does not usually like to comment.

"All I know is that I was listening to the scanner last night and dispatch said they had a call for a stabbing in Oakwood," Rhodes said. "When the first officer arrived at the scene, even the officer said it was a minor stabbing."

While scanner calls do often change by the time police or other emergency crews arrive on the scene, Rhodes does collect and post scanner calls as they come. He has also hosted food drives, and shares benefits for first responders as they occur. 

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