Update in Chesapeake

Quick update on the botched drug raid in Cheseapeake, Virginia in which 28-year-old Ryan Frederick shot and killed Chesapeake PD Det. Jarrod Shivers during a drug raid…

Chesapeake police have seized Ryan Frederick's phone records from the night of the raid. I can see several reasons for this, I guess. Did the informant call Frederick that night? Did Frederick talk to anyone the police suspect of being involved with drug distribution? I remember early on reading somewhere that Frederick dialed 911 at some point during the raid, but I can't remember where, and haven't seen anything about it since. Of course if he did, those records would be available through the 911 line. They wouldn't need to seize Frederick's phone records for that.

What's strange is that this was reported in a couple of local media outlets. Seems like this would be a pretty routine part of this kind of investigation. Perhaps it's an indication of just how secretive the police department has been in all of this. Maybe the local media is hungry for information, caught wind that something related to the case had just been filed in court, and felt the need to report it. But the mere fact that they're reviewing the phone records doesn't really indicate much of anything.

In related news, the Virginian-Pilot has published a new staff editorial that's pretty critical of the police department's secrecy in the case. The editorial notes that public opinion is growing skeptical of the way the raid and investigation were conducted, and growing particularly wary of the way Chesapeake officials have clammed up since the raid went down. They're calling for more disclosure.

Prior Chesapeake posts here.