To publish, or not to publish photo of suspect in assault?

I got a phone message yesterday morning from a reader who objected to the picture on the front page of the young man being arrested at Lansdowne Village mall. It was, she said, “disturbing” and “in very poor taste” to show the man’s bloodied face, because, after all, he has friends and parents who would be upset at seeing it.

The question of whether to use a photo that showed his face did come up for newsroom discussion the previous afternoon. My decision was to publish it, and to publish only the fact that he was being arrested after an incident at the mall, not to suggest he had committed any particular act.

For one thing, details of what had proceeded the arrest were sketchy. For another, there’s a legal consideration for media in such situations — just because someone is arrested, it does not mean he is guilty of anything. Police and Crown lawyers must decide whether to charge and prosecute, and a judge must decide on guilt or innocence.

Yesterday, more details of what occurred leading up to the arrest were released. On today’s front page of The Daily News, a story reveals that a 16-year-old stepped off a bus at the Lansdowne exchange and asked another man for a cigarette. The other individual responded by attacked the teen, then taking off.

Police caught up with the man suspected of the attack and a scuffle ensued. Police say the man repeatedly tried to head butt the arresting officer. It’s expected he’ll face charges of assault, resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.

The bus exchange has been the scene of several assaults and other nasty incidents over the past year. People worry about it. The City added extra bylaws supervision and this appears to have assisted in catching the suspect on Monday.

Whether the man in the picture is found to have committed the offences, I think it was the right call to publish his picture, even though his family and friends might be upset by it.