Sniper search: a communication strategy

As the sniper investigation grinds on, the issue of communication among the shooter, the police, and the media has emerged as one of the most intriguing yet exasperating facets of the case.

Tuesday morning's fatal shooting, in which the sniper returned to what is considered "home turf" after some experts said he was moving farther afield, seemed to confirm that the bullets themselves have become a perverse form of discourse.

Police, meanwhile, have fiercely tried to protect every possibility of communication with the shooter in the hopes that it may help solve the case. In a case so difficult, even a few moments of contact could be key.

Most serial killers don't communicate. When they do, it can help break the case. It can also add to public hype and frustration.

With hopes for a break raised one day and dashed the next, a focus on "messages" from the shooter is posing complicated challenges for the press as well as the police.

"The media are not just sitting off to the side reporting this case. They are an active member of this complex dynamic between perpetrator, victim, and law enforcement, and how they conduct themselves in that mix will impact how the outcome plays out," says Jerrold Post, a psychology expert at George Washington University and a former CIA profiler.

In the media frenzy surrounding this case, it's been difficult for the police to respond to the killer's overtures. And leaks and sometimes fabulous speculation on the motives or character of the killer that puffed up the 24/7 coverage of this case have not helped, say some experts.

The flip side of that criticism, however, is that the public is hungry for answers about the killer.

Still, each new attack appeared to confirm a grim pattern: that serial shooters pay close attention to what is said about them. Fighting words and speculation, whatever their source, appeared to trigger more violence.

When police said the schools were safe, the next target was a school. When the press reported that the shooter was working within a certain geographic range, he moved outside it. When the experts speculated that he had moved outside that range to avoid Pentagon spy planes, the next shot was back in the area of the first killings, and so on.

That's why both the police and the news media appear to be rethinking how they work this case. Last week, the police tried to bring down the saturation level of coverage by limiting press briefings to one a day, or when there was something to report.

At the same time, news outlets (with some exceptions) began curbing some of the speculation and harsh words for the sniper. After the most recent shooting, at a commuter bus stop yesterday in Rockville, CNN anchors said they would not speculate on the shooter's motives.

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