Chapter 797: Chapter 424: Confronting Media Harassment!
Mr Li walked slowly into the meeting room, his gaze pausing on each face for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter: "What? Didn’t get enough during the conference?"
"Want me to give you a little extra?"
"Alright, ask away, I’ll say what I can."
A female reporter was the first to speak, her speech quick but steady: "Mr. Li, we feel that this case is exceptional."
"Your expression at the press conference was notably serious, is the case particularly complex?"
"Is there any insider information you can reveal at this point?"
Before she finished speaking, a male reporter impatiently chimed in, his tone even more urgent: "Yes! Mr. Li, if you need media support, we can act swiftly."
"For example, reminding citizens to be vigilant or publishing the suspect’s physical characteristics through short video platforms?"
"After all, if the perpetrator is particularly cunning, public vigilance is the first line of defense."
Mr Li’s previously relaxed expression suddenly tightened at this moment.
His brows slightly furrowed, his eyes deepened.
These questions were far sharper than the procedural ones at the press conference—these people weren’t after the same old press release, they wanted the truth.
After a brief contemplation, Mr Li crossed his arms on the table, his gaze piercing as he swept across the seated reporters, and calmly began:
"Alright, since everyone is so concerned about this case, I’ll respond to your questions in detail."
"First, regarding ’repeated reminders from the media for citizens to be cautious’—this suggestion sounds quite caring, but is it really appropriate to implement?"
"Our criminal investigation team handles over hundreds of criminal cases each year, from home burglaries, street robberies, to various sudden incidents, should we announce each one city-wide?"
"Can the people still lead their lives?"
"Must they build up their psyche every time they step out: ’Will it be me today?’"
He paused slightly, his tone gradually becoming heavier: "Second, someone suggested revealing the suspect’s characteristics. This idea is very ’media-minded,’ but not very ’criminal investigation-minded.’"
"Let me put it this way, if we were to publish the preliminary suspect’s physical characteristics right now."
"Do you believe it, within two hours, the real culprit could pack up and flee overnight?"
"We are solving cases, not filming reality shows."
"Every step must be stable and accurate, we can’t spoil the game just to chase the news."
He leaned forward slightly, "Third, regarding the offering of rewards for information—that I must clarify."
"A reward isn’t something I can just declare ’come and get the money’ and put into action."
"It requires approval from the principal leaders of the City Public Security Bureau, must go through funding procedures, and comply with financial regulations."
"Even as a Deputy Director, no matter how broad my powers, I can’t dip into my own pocket to hand out bonuses, right?"
He suddenly smiled, slightly easing the tension: "Of course, I greatly welcome citizens to actively provide clues, even a trace. We would be immensely grateful."
"But to be candid, not every case has a reward mechanism."
"There are rules to solving cases, not every story can be ’accelerated by money.’"
Once these words were spoken, the reporters who had initially hoped to dig more "blockbusters," suddenly swallowed their questions.
Everyone exchanged glances, no one spoke for a moment.
But Mr Li wasn’t finished yet.
He paused briefly, his tone suddenly becoming more calm and serious: "If there are no further questions, then I’ll say a few more words—but these words may not be so simple."
"You working in media, I often follow your reports too."
"Some content is done very well, full of positive energy, warming hearts, the people love to read."
"But some content, I really can’t commend—there’s a relentless pursuit of hot topics, chasing traffic, wanting every case to be written as a ’sensational case,’ every suspect as a ’psycho monster.’"
His gaze scanned every person present and continued: "Have you thought about how the victim’s family members feel when they see this content?"
"How will their neighbors, colleagues, children’s classmates view them?"
"Especially in this case—both victim families still have minor children at home."
"Will these children still want to go to school in the future? Will they be pointed at behind their backs: ’Look, that’s the kid from the house where something happened?’"
Mr Li stood up, picked up the notebook on the table, and said finally: "The responsibility of the media is not to dredge up darkness for everyone to see, but to light a lamp in the darkness."
"Pursuing clicks and shares is not wrong, but remember this: you are writing about real people with real families still trying to continue their lives. That’s all from me."
With that, he turned briskly and strode out of the meeting room.
The Director of the Public Relations Office sitting nearby had a face full of helplessness.
He smiled wryly and shook his head, speaking with a hint of apology: "Dear reporters, really sorry about that."
"Mr Li has been under quite a bit of stress recently, his emotions were somewhat charged just now, I hope everyone will understand."
"We will subsequently release case progress through official channels, thank you all for your understanding and support."
Meanwhile, Officer Wan and Qin Feng had already driven to the Traffic Management Bureau.
Based on the specific location information of the incident area, the two headed directly to the surveillance command center on the third floor.
Opening the heavy soundproof door, before their eyes appeared a whole wall of LCD surveillance screens, countless frames switching and scrolling by the second.
Traffic flowing on main roads, lonely alley corners, crossroads under neon lights...
The city’s transportation network seemed to unfold silently here, captured in its entirety.
They quickly locked onto all surveillance points within a 10-kilometer radius of the incident site based on the dispatch records.
Excitingly, every road’s intricately distributed seven intersections was equipped with cameras from different angles.
Seeing such extensive surveillance, Wan and Qin Feng exchanged hopeful glances.
Where there is surveillance, there are clues; as long as the equipment runs smoothly, the trajectory of the suspect’s actions is likely to be captured!
The two quickly took seats, holding a brief conversation with the two officers on duty in the surveillance room and formed a temporary investigation team.
Four pairs of eyes as sharp as night hawks steadfastly focused on the constantly switching screens.
Ten minutes later, Wan suddenly leaned forward, pointing to the third screen at the top right and whispered: "Here! We’ve got something!"
Everyone crowded closer—the image showed a man in a dark jacket hurrying out of an alley, his head down and shoulders hunched, looking cautious, heading towards the crime scene. Hearts tightened, eyes immediately focused.
Wan quickly moved the mouse to zoom in the image.
Unfortunately, this intersection’s monitoring equipment was relatively old, not high-definition.
As the image continued to be enlarged, the pixels gradually broke and blurred, ultimately able to barely discern a blurry silhouette, facial characteristics entirely unidentifiable, even the clothing color distorted and gray.
For a moment, a faint dismay filled the surveillance room, someone let out a soft sigh.
But Qin Feng quickly broke the silence, his tone steady and firm: "Let’s not give up yet, let’s check it again closely—notice his walking posture, is his right leg limping a bit?"
Wan nodded repeatedly: "Indeed, his body weight shifts to the left, his pace is quick but not very coordinated."
"But...is this really the person we’re looking for?"
At this moment, Wan suddenly remembered something, turning to confirm with the Traffic Management Bureau staff: "Has the time on this camera been calibrated?"
The other party was surprised for a moment, then shook his head: "Not yet, the time error on this batch of old equipment is quite large, hasn’t been uniformly calibrated yet."
The lower right corner of the screen showed the time recorded as 4:12 AM for this segment, but the actual error was about six hours.
Wan quickly shook his head: "The time doesn’t match."
"The incident happened around 2 AM, if this error is correct, then this is actually footage from around 10 PM the previous night...not the timeframe we’re seeking."
Though slightly disappointed, they nonetheless archived the footage with notes and continued the screening.
Everyone focused again on the screens, intently searching for any suspicious trace or clue.
