Law Enforcement Technology

MAY 2014

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10 Law Enforcement Technology May 2014 www.officer.com COMMAND & COMMUNICATIONS Montgomery County PD's Bauer. Sometimes, despite your best efforts, an antagonistic relationship is created with some journalists. "We recently dealt with this involving a local news station," Slater details. "No matter what positive news we presented to them, they found a way to report it negatively by rehashing some issues in the police department's past. They also employed two reporters who ambushed our chief for interviews at city commission meet- ings. We were at the point with them where we essentially said 'we're done talking to you, and if you want some- thing, make a public records request and we'll get it to you in a reasonable amount of time.' I then reached out to the station's executive news director and asked for a meeting, during which time the chief and I expressed our frustrations. The meeting was mutually beneficial and in the months since, we have worked to rebuild the relationship. Their coverage of our agency is finally balanced and accurate, and as a result, we make more of an effort to provide them with sound bites or videos that they need to best present their stories to the public." "It can be a challenge to work with antagonistic journalists," echoes Montgomery County's Bauer. "If a PIO is having trouble with a particu- lar reporter, another PIO or the PIO Director may take over working with that reporter. No PIO is expected to have to take any abusive behavior from a reporter. We would also have no prob- lem speaking with the supervisor of an antagonistic journalist and explain- ing our concerns about the reporter's behavior. The goal is to always be professional, and to have a good working relationship." Spokespeople Some departments designate one par- ticular spokesperson who deals with the media, while other departments allow certain other officers to speak to the media "We do not necessarily designate a single spokesperson. Outside the PIO office, subject matter experts in the department may also speak from the rank of police officer through captains," Bauer details. "Directors of divisions, detectives, assistant chiefs and of course the chief of police can all be appropriate spokespersons depending on the inci- dent and circumstances. The sergeant who leads the Collision Reconstruction Unit that investigates fatal traffic col- lisions may be the spokesperson for media responding to the scene of a fatal crash. While any officer has the right to speak, [they] are requested to work through the PIO for a coordinated release of information. Officers are asked to notify the PIO if they have been contacted directly by a member of the media to provide information." Some departments strictly limit access, making sure the right officer speaks to the right reporter. "I am the designated spokesperson for the Boynton Beach Police Department, however, I often reach out to detec- tives and other officers to speak to the media," Slater says. "They are the subject experts and no one knows their cases better than them. If they are not comfortable speaking with the media, they will brief me and I will speak on their behalf." In most cases, PIOs deal with the majority of media requests, enlisting other officers when specialized knowl- edge is needed. "Our media relations policy des- ignates the public affairs office as the primary source, and designated media spokespersons," Warner says. "Others, however, are authorized. The chief of police, deputy chiefs of police, or those authorized by them may speak to the media in certain situations." Emergency response Even in an emergency, the same pro- tocols apply. "All information released during an ongoing tactical operation (barricade, large-scale disorder, etc.) would be vetted and approved by the incident commander," says Bauer. "If it is a weather emergency, for example, the county's PIO takes the lead in the release of general information. Police would still take the lead in releasing information, if for instance there was a traffic fatality directly attributed to the storm. It is still our goal to provide an accurate and timely release of informa- tion, but it may need to be vetted differ- ently. It may have to be coordinated with other agencies and we may rely more heavily on social media to get informa- tion out more quickly." Certainly, it is so much easier to deal with media requests when there is not an emergency. Warner often uses social media to get the most important information out quickly, while letting requests of lesser importance sit until he can get to them. "We executed a SWAT entry for an arrest warrant in a neighborhood," says Warner. "Within moments of arriving on the scene, I saw housewives in their homes leaning out of upstairs windows taking pictures with their smartphones. Two minutes after that I started to get phone calls from the media and com- munity organizations asking what was happening. I waited to respond to make sure we knew what we are talking about [for] our initial statement. I didn't have "...members of the media should be treated as invited guests at incident scenes rather than viewed as a hindrance. In most cases, their reporting...will portray the work of our offcers and employees in a positive light..." — Lucille Baur, PIO, Offce of Public Information, Montgomery County (MD) Police Department LET_07-11_Media0514.indd 10 4/18/14 3:29 PM

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