Hmmm. This is odd. In the past, West Midlands Police have been happy to communicate with the residents of Brownhills via press releases, often requested in response to specific incidents. The police have always been pleased with this arrangement and found the extra outlet useful.

It’s therefore with some surprise that my request for clarification on the flasher rumour currently going into overdrive on social media locally has been stonewalled. On the evening of Tuesday, July 10th, I had the following twitter conversation with Superintendent Keith Fraser of Walsall Police.

Tuesday evening: everything seems normal, I stand ready to post any Police statement as soon as it comes in next day.

I made several polite requests throughout the day, to no avail, of several local officers on social media. One couldn’t help, another, just back off holiday couldn’t help either. The main @WMPolice twitter account just ignored my polite requests. The Supt. Fraser finally got back to me around 5pm on Wednesday 11th July:

I’m not terribly happy with this. The rumour mill continues unabated.

So, there you go. No statement, and nobody really knows what’s happening. Walsall Police would apparently rather keep the community in the dark about what may, or may not have occurred in Brownhills. I can well understand that there may well be reasons not to give out too much detail, but a simple confirmation or denial would have worked wonders. This will do nothing to alleviate the justified concern many residents have, and will not stop some of the more fanciful tales spreading like wildfire.

I find it particularly odd that the talk is of ‘Indecent exposure incidents in Walsall’, but they haven’t even confirmed they’re aware of any taking place.

I’m completely nonplussed. After helping with information on other incidents, this seems like a backward step.

Of course, it goes without saying… but for anyone who’s witnessed anything suspicious, or thinks they have any information relating to these, or any other incidents please call Walsall Police on 0345 113 5000 or speak to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.