Editor’s Note
Back in the old days — that’s less than a decade and before there were such things as blogs and interactive conversations with readers — editors used to respond to their newspaper readers with an “editor’s note.” Sometimes it clarified a point made in a letter to the editor. Sometimes it offered a correction. Sometimes it was just a simple explanation. An editor’s note was a handful of sentences; maybe a four or five paragraphs. It was always a personal link between the editor and the reader. Only difference between it and today’s blog is the immediacy and the platform. Welcome to Editor’s Note.

Warning: Burglars in the neighborhood

August 15th, 2008 at 03:07pm Linda Grist Cunningham

Late last week, the Rockford Police Department issued a press release that said (and I paraphrase): If you live in northeast Rockford, lock your doors because someone is burglarizing homes.

The only other real information were the boundaries and the time frame: Riverside on the north; Alpine on the west; Bell School on the east and State on the south. Last time I checked that was one huge chunk of the city. Mostly between 9 a.m. — 3 p.m.

Frankly, there was a lot about that sketchy press release to annoy me. It was so vague. It must be news (meaning burglaries are uncommon in that quadrant). It must have been a lot of them or otherwise why mention them at all. And, just for good measure, I’m betting the cop shop doesn’t issue many press releases about burglaries in the southwest quadrant.

So, I asked my metro desk: Where are the answers? How many? Over what period of time? What was taken? Was anyone hurt? Where exactly? What neighborhoods? Suspects? What’s being done to catch the dude or dudette? Is this unusual? How does it compare/contrast with other areas of the city? Is this something new? If it weren’t serious, why issue a press release?

Here was the response from our journalists: We asked. They’re not talking and won’t say so we’ve FOIA’d ‘em. Not sure if they’ll respond, and if they do, response will be slow.

It annoys me that to get basic, public record information that’s actually useful, we have to beg. Answers to every one of those simple questions should have been in the press release. To demand that we go through a formal Freedom of Information Act paperwork drill is at best ludicrous and at worst an example of government secrecy at the expense of the public.

Maybe by the time you read this, the police brass will have come through with some answers. Don’t hold your breath.

Entry Filed under: Uncategorized

3 Comments Add your own

  • 1. the dude abides  |  August 16th, 2008 at 11:21 am

    Hopefully, nothing is being done to catch “the dude” because the dude hasn’t done anything wrong.

    (seems like everything needs to be FOIA’d nowadays. Chet doesn’t seem to be forthcoming with a lot of info)

  • 2. John Biltmore  |  August 17th, 2008 at 6:24 pm

    Hmm. So the “official sources” won’t answer. Yes, that is annoying. But is that really the end of the story for your journalists? Perhaps they might find some answers themselves, from someplace other than the RPD. Or are your reporters too busy blogging and recording video?

  • 3. pundit84  |  August 18th, 2008 at 2:49 pm

    The press also asked the police chief for a copy of the department policy regarding the use of tasers. His reply was to request it under the Freedom of Information but it would be denied.

Leave a Comment

Required

Required, hidden

Security Code:

Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>

Trackback this post  |  Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed