RICHMOND, Va. -- Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said his department would send out a reverse 911 alert to neighbors in future “code red” situations. Edwards made the declaration after citizens raised concerns to CBS 6 about never receiving an alert after an inmate's August escape from St. Mary’s Hospital in Henrico County.
Naseem Roulack escaped from the hospital just before 6 a.m. on Saturday, August 12, and quickly headed from Henrico County, where the hospital is located, into the City of Richmond, which is just steps away. Once there, police said he broke into a man’s home and stole his car keys, some money, and credit cards.
But, most Richmond residents had no idea an inmate was on the loose, even as police helicopters flew overhead and officers canvassed the streets.
"We checked local news, we checked Virginia statewide incidents and didn't see anything going on," Ryland Salsbury who lives in Richmond just down the street from where Roulack broke into the man’s home, said.
Richmond opted to not send a text alert to city residents who live in an area.
A spokesperson for the police department initially told CBS 6 that was because of the “wide dispersal of information to the public by the lead agencies.”
"It should be on Richmond Police to alert the citizens as to what is going on,” Salsbury said.
At a recent press conference, we took neighbors’ concerns straight to Chief Edwards.
“Are you planning on doing anything different if something like this happens in the future that's in a neighboring jurisdiction but it's right on the line from the city?” CBS 6 reporter Melissa Hipolit asked Edwards.
“I think that's where there was a bit of a disconnect because, if this had taken place in the city, we felt it would have met the criteria for code red, but I take your point in the sense that it was on the border, and it did affect one of our residents,” Edwards said. “There is a reverse 911, which we think in the future, if we have an incident like that, we will make the decision to push that out to our community, because I've heard that as well.”
“So it sounds like going forward you will consider sending out an alert in situations like this?” Hipolit clarified.
“Yes, yes,” Edwards said.
Henrico residents who live near the hospital did receive a reverse 911 alert about the inmate, but not until nearly three hours after the escape.
“We certainly would not have left our home had we known this person was on the run,” Erin Nord, who lives near the hospital in Henrico, said.
CBS 6 has asked Henrico Police several times why they waited that long to send out the alert, and they have never directly answered our questions.
Instead, they released a statement to the community saying they recognized the concern but still did not explain the reason for the delay.
When CBS 6 reporter Cameron Thompson attempted to ask Henrico Police Chief Eric English about the alert last month, English said he had already talked to CBS 6 Crime Insider Jon Burkett about the situation. But, Burkett said he never spoke with the Chief English about the escape.
“We've already sent a message out about what we did. I'm not there anymore,” Chief English said to Thompson when Thompson attempted to ask him about the delayed alert.
When asked by Thompson why it took over two hours to request the alert, English did not respond and walked away.
We asked a spokesperson for the Henrico Police Department if they plan to do anything differently in the future if a situation like this arises again.
"The Henrico County Police Division remains committed to the safety and security of our community members," the police department replied. "Any further information or comment on this incident from Aug. 12 can be found in the joint statement posted on the Division’s social media channels on Aug. 18, which can be found here."
Naseem Roulack remains on the run.
Depend on CBS 6 News and WTVR.com for in-depth coverage of this important local story. Anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
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