I've known reporters who believe that law enforcement officers owe them information. When they come up empty-handed they sometimes spout off their First Amendment Rights, not knowing what information is deemed public by law. Police agencies face fewer open records laws than the majority of public agencies.
As a police beat reporter, you need to know exactly what records you can access. That will differ from federal to state to local levels. The feds have to deal with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act, (FOIA). While FOIA can be used to pan for information, it takes time - more time than deadlines allow. There are also federal right to know laws. For a comprehensive source guide to federal government information - see Where's What by Harry J. Murphy, Office of Security, Central Intelligence Agency.
On the state level there are various open records laws at work. In Pennsylvania, the release of police records are governed by a combination of the Sunshine law, court rulings and departmental policies. At the minimum, financial records, meeting minutes and other administrative records are available to a reporter. There are only two basic records, other than crime statistics, possessed by police departments about crime that are guaranteed to the public by law:
Some departments do issue press releases, but those are generally bare-boned and lack significant, telling details. You can get death certificates from coroners and medical examiners. For a list of sources on state open records laws contact a journalism society. In Pennsylvania, the Media Survival Kit, published by the Pennsylvania First Amendment Coalition, a short, comprehensive guide, is one source.
That's all and if you don't have another way to get more details, you won't have much of a story. So how do you step across that thin blue line between them and us and get details?
Many facts about a crime, can be obtained from other sources: victims, witnesses, neighbors, the local grapevine, but there are certain investigative details which only the police can provide. Do your job first and learn as much from members of the public about the crime, as possible, then you will be armed with information that can be used to develop targeted questions to the police officials. They will respect you for getting information and sometimes may learn something from you that they hadn't come across before. Make sure not to cross that line and intrude on their investigation.
In a child pornography case, I learned details about the suspect's background with regards to where and how he was soliciting young boys for his publications. I also knew details about his regular routine. I shared that information And was rewarded with other details upon the suspect's arrest that made my series of articles on the case outdistance the competition.
The man had an extensive child sexual abuse record in another state. My source within the police department tipped me off about the suspect's rap sheet. I also learned that upon his arrest in Michigan, that the man, in his late 60's, had jumped out of a two-story window as police were climbing the stairs to his apartment. Miraculously, he managed to get away. Later, police checked the local hospitals and found a man who had been admitted for falling off a roof while working on a television antenna. That man was their suspect. It made a great story and no one else had it.
Still, if police don't know you, they are under no obligation to answer questions with anything other than "no comment". If you use information you learned through your own investigation without some kind of confirmation from police to its accuracy, you run the risk of reporting fallacy and conjecture, consequently opening yourself up to a libel action. For more information on slander, libel and the privacy rights, see the AP style manual. Sometimes, you need to know when to withhold information from your story.
In a girlfriend kidnapping case, I had sensitive information about telephone calls made by the victim to her mother, while still in the hands of her kidnapper - their location, the content of a message left by the victim in lipstick on a mirror in a dressing room and the victim's health and safety at the time of the call. At first, the detective did not want me to release any of the information I had obtained. I negotiated with him, pointing out that the status of the victim's health and that a call had been made were not "sensitive." I agreed to withhold mention of the cry for help and the exact location of the couple.
About three days later, around 2 a.m. I got a call from the detective telling me to show up at the county prison in one hour. My rewards were exclusive photographs of the suspect being lead into the prison and an interview with the victim.
After more than 20 years of police reporting, on top of at least 10 years working with police as a crisis intervention and drug abuse counselor, my relationship with law enforcement seems second nature. It wasn't always that way. I had to make an effort to gain trust and respect. I set out in a systematic way to reach that goal.
First you need to understand the nature of police work. To do that you can research police procedure in crime investigations - don't watch television, read a homicide manual, an insurance investigation manual, a forensic pathology manual, true crime, and accounts of crime and the work-a-day lives of police by police. There is a wealth of information out there. At the end of this booklet, there is a list of useful sources on police, crime and crime writing, including Pure Cop by Connie Fletcher, which will provide invaluable information on how police work and how they feel about their work. There are even books on how criminals work and think.
Second, spend a day or better yet, a Friday or Saturday night with police, from the squad room to the streets. Many police departments have a "ride-along" policy that allows members of the public and reporters to go along to learn about police work. For a first ride-along, you might want to choose a shift that is not extremely busy - So you have time to get to know the officer personally. That officer, if you don't screw up, may become a first contact to other contacts within the department once he labels you as "OK" to his buddies on the force. My first "ride-along" was a mix between a high speed chase in the middle of the night on a foggy road, known as Mountain Road, to rousting some teen parkers at a favorite date spot. In between, we talked about everything from politics to hobbies. Since that time, I have gone along on drug busts and even provided the FBI with eyewitness information on a bomb threat bank robbery that led to the arrest and conviction of the suspect.
The bank robbery case was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. I had just parked my car in the parking lot of the newspaper where I worked as a correspondent. As I was getting out of my car, I saw a man walking down the ally, wearing a full-face, black motorcycle helmet. He was carrying a plastic tote bag. He got in a car and drove away. I quickly jotted down both his and the car's description, ran into the newspaper and called a detective. While I was on the telephone, another employee said that the man was back and was running down the ally, with money in his hand. Another employee wrote down the vehicle's license plate number.
The police responded - and I learned a bank had been robbed - the robber had threatened the tellers with a bomb. I gave police the information I had and within 10 minutes a car matching the suspect's vehicle was found in a parking lot of a college campus. I went with police and was able to verify it was the suspect's car. The robber was not to be found. As an eyewitness, I went along with the FBI and police searching for the suspect, but he was nowhere to be found. We went back to the parking lot and waited for the arrival of the bomb disposal unit. The bomb squad detonated the device that they found in the back. While I was taking cover behind a squad car with police as the bomb was detonated, my competition was held at a police line, hundreds of yards away. The man was captured at his home, later that same day. As a result of all the evidence found in his car, plus eyewitness descriptions, The suspect pleaded guilty in the case. Of course, I had the inside track on the case.
While ride-alongs are great, there are caveats. There is the danger factor to consider, along with a host of legal issues, primarily the public's right to privacy. By going on private property you run the risk of suit. Recently, court's have found in favor of the plaintiffs suing media for invasion of privacy. For a brief discussion on the legal risks of ride alongs, see Legal Notes, Volume 5, No.5, May 1996, published by The Association of Electronic Journalists.
Third, to gain and keep respect your stories must be factually accurate. Three things will kill your chances with cops, misquoting them, using an off the record remark and screwing up the information.
Fourth, in the early hours of most investigations, police don't have alot of time to spend chatting with the media. Many times, they can't comment on specific elements of the case, but rather than quoting them with "no comment" or "police refused to release detail" there are things about which they can comment. They can say, yes, our police forensic team is on the scene and currently processing it for finger prints. They can say "yes" we are canvassing the neighborhood for witnesses; they can explain other technical details of an investigation, but they won't unless you know the right questions to ask. That way, you can report that at this point in the investigation, police have not gathered enough information for a formal statement on specific details of the crime, but did say... that strategy accomplishes two things - it gives your story depth by explaining to your readers how police investigate crime and it explains that sometimes police have to keep certain details to themselves as to not jeopardize their investigation. Here's where your understanding of the technical aspects of police work will pay off. At the same time you're not portraying the cops as tight lipped or secretive.
In an abduction-murder case, I was called on a Sunday afternoon. The detective told me that an itinerant tree trimmer had been arrested for the murder of a waitress who had been reported missing about a week before. The killer had met with the waitress for a date, traveled to a remote farm in northern Maryland and had become enraged by a comment she made about his virility. He strangled her and then proceeded to build a bonfire and incinerate her body. He gathered up her ashes and scattered them along the creek bank.
The information released by the detective was great, but brief, so I had to look elsewhere to fill the story out. I turned to Homicide Investigation by Le Mogue Snyder. The next day, I had a story on the homicide arrest, along with a detailed explanation of procedures used in arson investigations, body identification and for gathering evidence.
Finally, sometimes, as a reporter, you have to write about a bad cop. Other cops won't care, if you are fair and objective. Most cops don't like dirty cops and are glad to see them prosecuted to the full extent of the law, but they believe in fair play. Again, you are demonstrating respect through professionalism and journalistic integrity.
There is one other source of information on specific crimes that become public records, arrest documents and affidavits of probable cause, but they are only available upon arrest and in a court office. Those records can provide many useful details, but are also filled with legalese. For background investigations on suspects, court records and other sources, such as listed in Get the Facts on Anyone by Dennis King, can provide a treasure trove of information. Prison mug shots, are open records, in Pennsylvania, and can provide you with art to go along with your story.
Photography is an added tool at your disposal, as both a source of income and as an "in" with police. Because of the trust that I have developed with the police departments, I am often called to take photographs of crime scenes, accidents and other related incidents for small departments. That skill often results in being the first media on the scene. There are legal implications about photography as well. Again, they are primarily based on the constitutional right of privacy.
Gathering the information is only the first step - now the story has to be written. Journalism students know the what, where, when, why and how of the basic inverted pyramid story, but if that's all you use, then the results will probably be dull, when the information is dramatic. Most crime stories lend themselves to a literary journalistic style. Take a lesson from the world of fiction by considering your facts as the basic elements of story telling - setting, scene, plot, character, theme, tone, and sound.
There's drama, intrigue, mystery, suspense, heroes, and villains, victims, motives, greed, lust, romance, revenge, social issues, justice - all the elements of literature built right into most crimes.
The best place to start, in may stories, is with the discovery of the crime. From there, the writer must decide which point-of-view to use in relating the tale. Point-of-view depends on the source of the information - the victim, police, witnesses, the suspect. Motives run the gamut of human frailties.
Settings range from the grit on the streets to the luxury of fine homes. Consider how the setting affects the story. In a murder case known as the Mountain Man, the story began on a Friday the, in the Appalachian Mountains of southern Pennsylvania.
The victims, a lesbian couple, had come to the isolation of a state park to hike and enjoy each other's company, away from prying eyes. Unfortunately, fate had taken a hand in their journey when they had a chance meeting with a long-haired, dirty, and frightening looking man carrying a .22 caliber rifle. After a brief encounter and what the victims thought was a separation from the mountain man, a wanted felon, the women made their way along the Appalachian trail to a camp site. What they didn't know was that they were being stalked. They were shot while making love along a creek in an idyllic setting. One victim survived and managed to trek wounded through dense brush to a road where she was picked up by a passing motorist and taken to a hospital.
A dramatic and tragic tale of love and bigotry, all played out in the wild. Because of my handling of the story, I was granted an exclusive interview with the surviving victim. The story demanded a literary treatment.
Character is also an important element. A victim of an attempted rape, who was shot a paralyzed, was a deeply religious young woman. Her faith not only helped her survive and deal with her tradgety, she became an inspiration to a whole community. From her hospital bed, a few weeks after the attack, she said she forgave the man who shot her. That story led me to the set of America's Most Wanted as a consultant on a featured segment. While the suspect has never been found, my contact with police and the victim opened the doorway to another story, an inside look at the operations of a national television program.
Fatal Fascination, Where Fact Meets Fiction in Police Work, by Phil and Karen McArdle, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA. 1988. (A guide to police procedures in murder cases.)
Get the Facts on Anyone, by Dennis King, Prentice Hall, NY, NY. 1992. ( For personal b ackground investigations.)
Homicide Investigation, by LeMogue Snyder, Chester C.Thomas Publications, Springfield, IL. 1977.
Media Survival Kit, by Samuel E. Kline, Katherine Hatton, Kohn, Savett Klein & Graf, P.C., Pennsylvania First Amendment Coalition, Philadelphia, PA. 1986.
The Howdunit Series: ( all published by Writer's Digest Books, Cincinnati, Ohio)
Modus Operandi: a writer's guide to how criminals work, by Mauro V. Corvasse & Joseph R. Paglino, 1995.
Malicious Intent: a writer's guide to how murderers, robbers, rapists, and other criminals think, by Seant Mactire, 1995.
Police Procedural: a writer's guide to the police and how they work, by Russell Bintliff, 1993.
Private Eyes: a writer's guide to private investigators, by Hal Blythe, Charlie Sweet & John Landreth, 1993.
Scene of the crime: a writer's guide to crime scene investigations, by Anne Windgate, PhD, 1992.
The Reporter's Handbook, by John Ullmann & Steve Honeyman, St. Martin's Press, NY, 1983.
The Writer's Complete Crime Reference Book, by Martin Roth, Writer's Digest Books, Cincinnati, Ohio. 1990.
The Word: an Associated Press Guide to Good News Writing, by Rene J. Cappon, The Associated Press, NY, NY. 1991.
( This is by no means an exhaustive list. Each of these books also have bibliographies listing other sources.