Police, Media Relations and Disinformation
Phoenix, AZ—Politicians and
their appointed police chiefs across this nation demand nearly total control of
police related information.
It’s epidemic in the larger
cities controlled by Democratic Party mayors.
They see the value of leaving their citizens with a false sense of security
and public safety as they spin any and all information accordingly.
Police business was once considered
just that. Certain information was kept
away from all but sworn police officers.
That’s not the case because the local politicians have demanded and
unlawfully obtained access to sensitive police data nearly everywhere.
Politicians also demand the
ability to influence arrests and prosecutions of friends, relatives and of
course their campaign contributors. Illicit
influence is used to both free the guilty and even jail the innocent. Cops and prosecutors have no choice but to
look the other way. Whistle blowing in
law enforcement circles simply does not exist.
Our cops are considered expendable
so reality dictates that the bosses find a sacrificial lamb or two to frame,
fire and destroy their reputations. This
creates the appearance of avoiding corruption by eating a few of their own.
If you think things are
operating by the book anywhere, you’re dead wrong. Of course the actual Obstruction of Justice must
be subtle and well below media radar.
Controlling the cops is
somewhat easy for politicians because they control the lives of officers
through their jobs, working assignments and pensions.
Because of political
corruption the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports system is almost totally unreliable
because of local politicians and their police chiefs.
They have learned that they
can skew statistics to get additional federal funding or to hide things like
murders from the public. They’ve found
creative ways of making crime statistics appear almost anyway they want.
I’ve been both a cop and an
investigative TV news producer over the last four decades and have seen this
all-first hand.
The police agencies have
learned that they can control information by the use of Public Information
Officers. These are the kind of people
that know how to do exactly what they’re told by superiors.
PIO’s are not there to
disseminate information but to protect and hide it. They provide not a single syllable beyond
what the public record demands. They do
this with a broad smile and appearance of cooperation.
PIO’s know how to arrange a
live news conference on an important crime story. They love the captive audience that live TV
gives them. The PIO’s dutifully subvert
the news conference purpose and instead use it for face time of the local
politicians that have absolutely nothing to do with the story.
Then they all brag about the
“great work” they are doing for the taxpayers until the mass nausea sets
in. Only after that they will say a few
words about the story involved.
Today’s local news is
troubled in a big way. Lost audience and
revenue has eliminated any challenges to the PIO’s disinformation. The PIO’s and their bosses love this and know
the stories will spin they way they want them.
As an investigative TV news producer I’ve
made it personal policy to purposely avoid the PIO’s and not waste my time with
them.
Instead I locate and contact the
witnesses, victims and property owners for the real story. Instead of waiting for the cops to tell me
about the backgrounds I investigate the newsmakers myself.
If news organizations like
allowing the PIO’s to tell their audiences what the news is, reporters and
producers are not necessary. Let the
PIO’s Skype in their sound!
No police department,
politician or other obstructionist is going to prevent me from digging and learning
the truth about a story I’m working. Getting a news director to authorize my time these days is the real challenge.
I’ve always watched the
lamest of reporters suck up to the PIO’s thinking they will somehow get something
extra. The PIO’s are enemies of the
truth and exist only to demolish or derail anything that might show government
ineffectiveness or questionable motivation.
Reporters should simply refuse
to deal with the PIO’s. If the cop or a
low level supervisor like a sergeant or detective handling the story you're working has been
muzzled that all the more reason to skip wasting time with the PIO’s.
At a minimum no sound bites,
name recognition belongs in print or on video of any police PIO.
Every journalist that covers
crime and courts should know this.
The truth is that many
reporters these days only want to get their minute-thirty second package up or
six-inch print story without any effort.
What a sad existence. I say do it
right or don’t do it at all.
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