Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez sounds like the word-parsing spokesman for a politician trying to defend the indefensible. He’s been walking an absurd line for weeks, trying to convince the City Council and the public that there’s some real difference between vigilance and fear. He did it again yesterday, but I don’t think people are buying it, even though they’re still trying to be polite to the newcomer police chief:

But “when somebody reports to you, you read in the paper or you see on TV that there’s a madman out there looking to rob people and shoot people, now you go into fear, and when you’re in a fear mood, you’re not vigilant,” he said. “In many cases a lot of people don’t even leave their homes because of that. And a lot of other people don’t even come to the city because of that.”

I don’t know about you, but if I hear there’s a madman on the loose shooting people I’m damn sure going to be vigilant as hell. Maybe I check the door locks three times. Maybe I don’t let my kids go out after dark. Maybe I buy a few more clips for my Glock. Whatever. But it’s better than not knowing a maniac is out there, which is what happened last month when Lopez kept quiet on a robbery spree because he didn’t want to alarm people.

Next time, Jose, alarm us.