"Telling the community a serial killer is out there stirs up a lot of unpleasant attention"
About this Quote
Pat Brown, speaking as an entertainer with true-crime bona fides, is pointing at the media-government feedback loop that always kicks in when a predator becomes a narrative. Once you name “serial killer,” you don’t just trigger vigilance; you trigger cameras, tip lines, amateur sleuths, political pressure, lawsuits, and the inevitable question: how did you miss this for so long? The subtext is cynical but practical: sometimes officials and even communities prefer ambiguity, because certainty comes with accountability. A vague “person of interest” keeps the story smaller. “Serial killer” turns it into a referendum on competence.
The phrasing is tellingly bureaucratic. Not “panic” or “terror,” but “attention,” as if the real hazard is a loud room. That choice exposes a conflict at the heart of public communication: warning people can protect them, but it also risks contaminating an investigation, inflaming rumor, and making every decision a public performance. Brown’s line works because it frames safety messaging as crisis PR, where the terror isn’t just the killer outside, but the spotlight inside.
Quote Details
| Topic | Fear |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Brown, Pat. (2026, January 17). Telling the community a serial killer is out there stirs up a lot of unpleasant attention. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/telling-the-community-a-serial-killer-is-out-78644/
Chicago Style
Brown, Pat. "Telling the community a serial killer is out there stirs up a lot of unpleasant attention." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/telling-the-community-a-serial-killer-is-out-78644/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Telling the community a serial killer is out there stirs up a lot of unpleasant attention." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/telling-the-community-a-serial-killer-is-out-78644/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

