Former detective says APD should be more transparent about Piedmont Park murder
ATLANTA - A veteran cop said Piedmont Park should be treated as a crime scene until the person who brutally stabbed a woman and her dog to death there is off the streets.
Retired Detective David Quinn told FOX 5 how he would investigate the case. He would first make the department’s presence known, get to know everything about this park, who is coming in and out, and the culture.
"Every murder is solvable, it’s how much heat you give to it, you got to stay on it," said Quinn.
Katherine Janness (Courtesy of the Atlanta Police Department)
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The veteran detective knows something about solving murders. During his 30 years with the Atlanta Police Department, he and his partner arrested hundreds of murderers.
He said the way to work a case is from the inside out. He suggests detectives roll up their sleeves and begin working overnight shifts to figure out who killed 40-year-old Katie Janness as she walked her dog in the popular park last week.
Katherine Janness and her partner Emma (Courtesy of the family)
Plant a flag in Piedmont Park and the perimeter, own that, know everything about that place, who’s coming and going, make friends and alliances under the cover of darkness, nobody’s going to come up to you with all these lights on, get out there at night," said Quinn.
Detectives have been scouring surveillance cameras, which Quinn said is good.
Katherine Janness with her fiancé's 3-year-old pit bull Bowie (Family photo)
SEE ALSO: 'We are investigating a callous murder': APD addresses rumors over Piedmont Park murder
"Surveillance cameras, that’s the new police department. Surveillance cameras, tag readers, in this situation it’s probably going to be a surveillance camera issue. There is some residential camera, there’s probably some business cameras, that’s going to catch this bad actor, this killer, coming or going," Quinn said.
Over the weekend officers canvassed the nearly 200-acre park.
The former detective said the department should open up more and include the public, the families, and the media.
"The only way you clear these types of murders is with investigative transparency. You got to let the public, families know what you’re doing. And you got to include the media. Not just in press conferences," Quinn said adding the media has brought him so many clues over the years.
Quinn said he is confident his former colleagues will solve the case.
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