PHILADELPHIA — Kathi Camp called the Philadelphia Police Department’s homicide unit almost every day for four months before the detective assigned to investigate her son’s murder finally called her back.
“Leaving us in limbo is more harmful than the pain we already feel from losing our child,” Camp said. “It’s like we don’t matter.” “They don’t seem to have a procedure,” said Chantay Love, founding director of Every Murder Is Real, a support group for Philadelphia families impacted by homicide. “They know there’s an issue but they won’t take it upon themselves to address it.”Staff Inspector Ernest Ransom, commanding officer of the Homicide Unit, acknowledged that many families haven’t gotten the communication they deserve.
The families said they understand the heavy workload, but the communication breakdown exacerbates their trauma and builds distrust in the department. Some mothers said it makes them feel as if no one is actively investigating their loved one’s death, that their child is “just a number” whose case is sitting at the bottom of the pile.
“That’s why it’s important to have those checks and balances in place, so that when a detective does lose focus , supervisors can pick up the slack,” said Ransom. Ransom said that the unit needs additional victims assistance officers, especially people who speak a language other than English, but that the department has limited resources.
Tiffaney Flynn stands in front of a wall of photographs and paintings of her son and daughter in her home in Philadelphia. Warnken, from Baltimore, said the issues go beyond that and point to deeper cultural biases in how police departments treat crime victims of color. Brodie knows the witness’ name and what he looks like. In October, just after her son was killed, he approached her at the scene and told her the shooter had mistaken her son for a drug dealer who hung on that corner. She was in such shock at the time that she didn’t ask many questions or get his contact information.
“At this point, I don’t have any trust or hope in the police or the DA or the judicial system,” she said. “I feel like if it were one of their own, one of their own children, they would have been out here knocking on doors and kicking them in.
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