Cleveland Police Press Conference May 8--"...we have scrubbed our entire investigative file..."

[factsarenotfair]

In the first minute of this press conference, an official (Stephen Anthony?) uses these words. When I heard it on Wednesday, I wondered if it was just a simple misuse of a word or a slip of the tongue. Residents of Ariel Castro's neighborhood are saying that they tried to get the police to investigate the house but police are saying they did not receive calls. What do you think?

[hedgehog]

1. The neighbors claim to have called, but if there was no police response as they now claim,

why didn't they do something else?

[factsarenotfair]

3. That's a good question, too. n/t

.

[hedgehog]

8. Not to mention - wouldn't the neighbors have been talking to each other if

anyone had noticed anything? They did know each other - they had barbecues at the guy's house!

[factsarenotfair]

13. I've seen strange behavior in my neighborhood and never talked about it with my neighbors.

Once a friend told me that her mother was sued and lost for hinting that her neighbor was running a brothel to other neighbors and I've always remembered that.

[Scuba]

2. It sounds like he meant "scoured", which would suggest "carefully searched" ....

... but said "scrubbed" which would mean "erased".

[Junkdrawer]

4. paging Dr. Freud ....

Someone is slipping....

[Scuba]

5. Perhaps. Or just someone nervous and unfamiliar with "scrubbed" as a computer term.

[Brother Buzz]

14. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar

[factsarenotfair]

6. I know. It was funny he didn't correct himself.

"Scrubbed" isn't a word I use often, if ever.

[Scuba]

7. Very common word in and out of computer-ese.

[factsarenotfair]

10. I've never scrubbed anything from my computer.

I just use delete or reformat.

[Scuba]

12. IT professional here. We use "scrub" often, especially when referring to cleaning up data ....

... for example, a file of customers was "scubbed" eliminate duplicates and entries over 10 years old.

I've also heard "scrubbed" used in reference to removing (and making un-recoverable) all data from a hard drive, although "killed" seems to be preferred in this context..

[factsarenotfair]

16. But he wasn't meaning to say that they removed anything or

cleaned up data.

[Scuba]

17. I agree. I think he meant searched, and wanted to say "scoured".

[DreamGypsy]

11. Yeah, benefit of the doubt...

scoured past participle, past tense of scour (Verb)
Verb

1. Clean or brighten the surface of (something) by rubbing it hard, typically with an abrasive or detergent: "he scoured the bathtub".
2..Subject (a place, text, etc.) to a thorough search in order to locate something.

[DreamGypsy]

9. Well, maybe there are other meanings to the word...

...but what comes up with Google is:

scrubbed past participle, past tense of scrub (Verb)
Verb

1. Rub (someone or something) hard so as to clean them, typically with a brush and water.
2. Remove dirt by rubbing hard.

If the intended implication was that the file "was thoroughly and carefully examined for relevant information" another word would have been a better choice.

[NCTraveler]

15. I think he was talking about an in person interview.

"Residents of Ariel Castro's neighborhood are saying that they tried to get the police to investigate the house but police are saying they did not receive calls. What do you think?"

It wasn't in reference to the neighbors calls was it?

[factsarenotfair]

18. It's murky.

I'm guessing that the investigator got some information from the neighbors.

[Marrah_G]

19. I took it to mean they went over it with a fine tooth comb

Every day I "scrub" applications in my job. Meaning, I look them over very carefully.