Submitted via IRC for guy_
Police Chief Takes To Facebook To Complain About A Journalist Committing Journalism
Generally speaking, law enforcement is a closed shop. It usually takes diligent efforts by journalists to pry loose documents pertaining to misconduct or misbehavior. State laws tend to make this more difficult than it should be by granting law enforcement agencies tons of public records exemptions.
It's this strained relationship being highlighted in an incredibly ill-advised Facebook post by the Aurora (IL) Police Department, penned by police chief Kristen Ziman. As Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery pointed out on Twitter, it's not every day you witness a police department berate a journalist for practicing journalism.
For six months, a reporter at a local newspaper has been seeking essentially the complete case file of the tragic incident where a young man took his own life after exchanging gunshots with an Aurora Police officer in October, 2016. Both the reporter and the publication were especially interested in the officer's dash cam video of the traffic stop that began the entire episode in an apparent attempt to disprove its justification. (The publication wrote an editorial on March 26, 2017, calling into question the officer's actions and our explanation of events.) You can see the stop and events that led up to it on this post.
[...] While I understand FOIA's enhance openness and public transparency, many of the FOIA's this reporter files don't result in published articles. The hours the city has worked to fulfill her FOIA requests has cost taxpayers and resulted in police supervisors devoting their time on FOIA requests rather than concentrating on our crime fighting initiatives. The demand for trust between the community and the police is prolific. At some point, there has to be a trusting relationship between the media and the police.
[...] Finally, the Facebook post says "there has to be a trusting relationship between the media and police." No, there absolutely does not. This is completely wrong. Journalism is nothing more than stenography if it allows government agencies to steer narratives and coverage. Chief Ziman seems to think reporters should accept every statement made by police officials at face value, rather than seek underlying documents. That's not trust. That's obeisance. It's worthless in the context of transparency and accountability.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Sunday October 01 2017, @01:33PM (4 children)
One dark evening I heard gunfire outside. Had never heard that before. I peeped out a window (which may not have been the smartest move) and saw a police officer trotting down the alley with his gun drawn. What the heck was he doing, shooting at wildlife?
As I don't like bullets flying past my home and me having no idea why, I called the city police the next day to inquire and got absolutely nowhere. Wouldn't tell me anything. Said I could file a Freedom of Information Act request. Yeah, way to throw bureaucratic roadblocks at me. For all I know, I saw a trigger happy cop seizing on an excuse to shoot a few rounds, and they were determined to cover it up. If those punk police ever happen to want my help, they can write me a letter. Maybe I'll get around to answering it.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 01 2017, @02:44PM
If you were talking to the police, you would want a lawyer. If you were arrested by the police, you wouldn't want them to tell everyone prior to conviction. There's a reason why you don't want the police to just answer questions about what happened in a way that avoids oversight. Think about the trust for the police that requires.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 01 2017, @07:40PM (1 child)
Why not call 911 right then and there and report it as a crime? Sure, it was (probably) a cop, but now it's logged in a particular way and they *might* give you more information in order to keep the peace.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 02 2017, @08:43AM
Cops come to your house with plenty of guns, bash your door in and shoot you dead. Turns out you were holding a phone, not a gun. Cops involved assigned to desk duty for a month or two. BLM make a few protests. End of story.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Sunday October 01 2017, @08:59PM
Too bad you don't have security camera footage of the cop. You could respond to the letter with a copy of that.