It was only fitting that Delonda Walker, the McDonald’s worker who turned in a gun that led to the arrest of the Seminole Heights serial-killer suspect, be given all of the ($110,000) reward money. Forget about the technicalities of calling a hotline number. Without her acting on suspicion, Seminole Heights is arguably still a tense community with possibly a fifth victim adding to the gut fear and paranoia.
It’s also significant that Walker is African-American. For those who still champion the “no-snitch” culture in the black community, this is a rebuke. This is what involved residents do when they act in communal self interest. And it doesn’t happen without the police and city hall having earned the confidence and respect of a community under siege.