Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Over a month has passed since an out-of-control street takeover party on E. Delevan Avenue in Buffalo, and still, no arrests have been made.
Officers were spat, on while others launched fireworks at them. 11 people were also shot that night in the area surrounding E. Delevan.
Security consultant and retired Buffalo Police captain Jeff Rinaldo tells WBEN it's difficult making arrests when given the circumstances.
"Just because you may capture somebody's image on video or from a surveillance system of a business does not automatically mean you're going to be able to identify who they are," Rinaldo said during "A New Morning" on Thursday.
"Ultimately you have to look at the severity of the charges someone could be facing and make a determination of how much resource you're going to pour into attempting to locate that individual to try to make an arrest."
Analyzing body camera footage is "extremely difficult", Rinaldo says. Police also have to choose their battles.
"At the end of the day, the charges that somebody might be facing could be as low as harassment...up to a misdemeanor assault. In situations like that, it's chaotic, it is violent for people that are stuck in the middle of it. But from a police department standpoint I'm not sure you're going to put a ton of time and effort into attempting to identify people for very low-level crimes."
There's also the question of locating the alleged promoter of that party, Daevon Alexander. Crimestoppers announced a $2,500 reward for information leading to his arrest July 9, but there's been nothing since. City officials have met with Alexander in the past, but that doesn't make arresting him any easier.
"It could be a situation where he used a bogus address or on his application he used a P.O. box. He very well might've left the area. Sometimes identifying people, despite how well-known they might be, does not necessarily mean the individual is sticking around to see the outcome of the situation that they were involved in."
