An area criminal justice expert says there’s a good reason filing a false police report is a criminal offense — and the Jussie Smollett charges provide one very public example. Tod Burke is a former police officer, whose past college teaching experience includes Radford University. He says any time someone files a bogus police report, it misuses valuable law enforcement resources. And when the person is well-known, it’s even worse. He spoke with WFIR’s Evan Jones:
Jussie Smollett has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his lawyer says the “Empire” star “enjoys the presumption of innocence.”
