Photo: Camilo José Vergara
Some billboards in many tough urban areas don't sell products. Instead, passer-bys get to see pictures of smiling men next to a question: "Who Murdered Me?"
Camilo José Vergara wrote this for the Los Angeles Times:
Usually, the dead ask questions only in our dreams. In these cases, though, the dead are homicide victims whose killers have not been found. The signs are there because so few witnesses come forth and police departments hope the offer of a reward will break through “witness reluctance.”
The signs seem to say: “I am dead, but my smiling face will hover over this ghetto neighborhood until my assassin is placed behind bars.”
Newest 5 Comments
It´s disturbing and can have the desired effect over people´s conscience. But useful? I´m not sure.
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I don't know how it could really be effective, unless it's to guilt a community that is otherwise tight-lipped about such things.
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That's something I'd always wanted to do to help find whoever murdered my mom 20 years ago, but I couldn't get donations and couldn't afford it otherwise. I wouldn't do it now because of familial concerns but I've heard them to be very effect.
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I think it's a great idea. Whether it helps or not is another question, but it can't hurt.
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I think Johnny is right on this.
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