More than four months ago, we asked what good could come out of what was bad in Ferguson, Mo.
The bad aside, and there is plenty to lay aside, police departments across the country have reviewed or are reviewing their policies on police stops. Many departments are looking at whether the racial makeup of their workforce is similar or approaching that of the population of their city. Still others are examining whether they have the proper equipment for certain tense situations.
Though the police officer in question, Darren Wilson, was judged by local and federal bodies to have followed proper procedures, the incident launched a number of dialogues that cities and police departments needed to have. For the long haul, that’s a positive result.
Is it possible something similar can occur from the discredited University of Virginia sexual assaults story chronicled at length in Rolling Stone magazine?
We know now that police found no evidence the victim identified in the story only as “Jackie” had been raped by seven men at a fraternity house. We know, too, that the magazine failed in basic reporting, editing, editorial supervision and fact-checking in its effort to publish a sensational story about a problem that occurs on many college campuses today.