'No need to fear,' mayor tells Boulder

'No need to fear,' mayor tells Boulder

Leader says residents shouldn't think killer is 'wandering streets'

By Kevin McCullen

%%byline%%By Kevin McCullen
Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

BOULDER -- Mayor Leslie Durgin appeared at a news conference Friday to defend police and dispel fears about public safety.
"I've been asked if there is widespread fear in Boulder, and the answer is 'no.' There is no widespread fear in Boulder,'' Durgin told the news conference, carried live by Cable News Network.
She said she has not asked police for a briefing on the case.
"People in Boulder have no need to fear there is someone wandering the streets of Boulder looking for someone to attack. Boulder is safe,'' she said. "Boulder is a safe community, and it will continue to be.''
Durgin, who has been mayor since 1989, said the media coverage of the Ramsey slaying is as intense as she's ever seen in Boulder, which has drifted in and out of the national limelight for years because of the city's assortment of brilliant or eclectic residents.
Producers of the crime show America's Most Wanted contacted Boulder police Friday to seek their assistance in covering the story. Major news organizations from throughout the country have sent representatives to the city of 94,000, and newspapers in Great Britain have called city officials and local reporters.
"If this was New York or a community that experiences frequent homicides, it might not be that unusual,'' she said. "It is unusual -- thank God -- in this community.''

January 4, 1997