Peter Ystenes, a detective lieutenant with UW-Madison Police and a co-chair of the university?s threat assessment team, says it?s always a good idea to examine individual cases and ask if a situation could have been handled differently — but he isn?t about to make judgments on a case he knows little about. ?It?s fair to question, but my issue right now is we only know half the story, or a quarter of the story, and (the media is getting) information second- or third-hand and then reporting it as truth,? says Ystenes. ?That irritates me a bit knowing how difficult these situations can be, and frankly how sad some of the cases have been.?
Indeed, keeping a campus community safe, while at the same time not overreacting and respecting the rights of individuals, can put those charged with assessing potential threats in a tough spot.