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Thread: Buffalo police supressing crime info

  1. #1
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    Buffalo police supressing crime info

    This is a troubling development in an administration which uses police 'protection' to deprive citizens of open access to the Mayor's Office. All in the context of Brown's "Information Officer" having his dramatic late-night DWI-hit-&-run totally covered-up . . . and the Police Commissioner turning truth upside-down to cover-up crimes by the Mayor's son.

    Here is the issue from the blog of BfloNews investigative reporter Jim Heaney

    http://buffalonews.typepad.com/outrages_insights/, August 05, 2008

    Buffalo police supressing crime info
    Somewhere in the city Saturday night, two men got into an argument. It escalated into a gang beating involving 10 other men. The beating was a bad one and, as the police incident report said, the victim was bandaged up afterwards.

    Normally, this would be worth a brief in the paper. Not a murder, but newsworthy nonetheless.

    Ditto for a Rite Aid employee who was caught with five bottles of prescription drugs in his pants pockets. The police report said the employee was intending on stealing them and selling on the street.

    Again, newsworthy.

    I came across these two reports while covering the police beat Sunday. Neither report made it into the paper, however. It's the byproduct of an effort by the Buffalo Police Department over the past couple of months to cut back on the information included in incident reports made available to the press.

    This follows a series of incidents over the past year-and-a-half that have involved, among other things, Deputy Commissioner Dennis Derenda storming into the press office at Police HQ to confront a reporter about a story in the works, Mayor Byron Brown lobbying to get a crime story killed, his press secretary suggesting a lead on a story and police officials demanding that The News clear crime items before publishing them.

    Along the way, Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson has wondered aloud in front of a reporter as to why he should make it "easy" for the press to do its job and Brown raised the specter of limiting The News' access to routine police reports.

    The News is able to access incident and arrest reports via a computer in a press office in Police HQ. Last year department officials threatened to deny The News continued access to these reports. They became especially irate after we ran a story in October 2007 detailing how the police failed to alert the public about a serial predator who had been terrorizing old people in the Broadway-Fillmore area. The next business day, we were informed we were losing our computer access to police reports.

    The department backed off its threat after a face-to-face meeting between the mayor and our editor, Margaret Sullivan, who was, and remains, strong in her belief that the press requires continued access to police records to inform the public. I guess the mayor didn't like the prospect of being tagged in the paper as restricting the public's right to know.

    But that didn't end the administration's effort to limit what the police share with the press, and therefore, the public. Instead, routine information is now often omitted from incident reports. It's been going on for a couple of months now.

    I've covered police on and off for more than 20 years and I've never seen such incomplete reports as I did Sunday. I quizzed some of my colleagues, who say the same thing. A lot less information, a lot less cooperation filling in the blanks.

    In the case of the aforementioned gang beating, no location was mentioned in the report, aside from the police district it occurred in. No address on the victim. Bare bones.

    As for the drug theft, the report said it occurred at a Rite Aid. No store address. No address on the defendant, either. Again, not a whole lot to work with.

    Until a couple of months ago, police reports routinely included the address of the crime scene. We also got the address of defendants charged with crime, usually with an age or date of birth. Enough to write a respectable brief, maybe even a short story.

    This lack of information would not be as much of a problem if the reporter could pick up the phone and talk to the cops. But the department imposed an edict in March 2007 precluding all but a handful of police department employees from talking to reporters. Not even most higher-ups are permitted to talk.

    Precinct lieutenants? No. The lieutenant who runs homicide? Not without permission. Rank-and-file cops, the ones who really know what is going on? You've got to be kidding?! Even the technicians who input the reports have been told to not provide reporters with even the most basic information, such as street addresses, if we come looking for missing details.

    The only ones authorized to speak to reporters are Mike DeGeorge, the department's civilian spokesman, and Gipson and his two deputy commissioners. DeGeorge has become the go-to guy, but the problem is, when reporters call him, he often knows less than we do.

    Sometimes he gets the information. Sometimes quickly. Sometimes not so quickly. Problem is, we're in the business of news, not history, especially in this era of instant news via the Web.

    (My own experience with DeGeorge: The last two times I called him, including Monday, to discuss this post, he failed to return the call).

    We didn't abuse the access we had to reports. We keep the names of sex crime victims out of the paper. Ditto for many elderly victims. And we use discretion when it comes to naming other crime victims and where they live. We're mindful of protecting victims and witnesses and not compromising ongoing investigations.

    How we use the details contained in the crime reports was never an issue in discussions The News had with police and administration officials. Implied throughout this process it that it's largely a matter that officials in City Hall and Police HQ don't like some of the stories we've written and they'd like to see less crime news in the paper. And one way of doing that is making it harder for reporters to do their jobs. Limit their access to people, put less information in the paperwork.

    This tactic runs counter to the trend nationwide, where a growing number of police departments are making more and more crime information available to the press and public, often via the Web.

  2. #2
    Member Linda_D's Avatar
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    YAAAWWWNNNN! Another feeble attempt to find "conspiracy" and "evil" where none exists.

    I don't think that either of those stories would make it into either the Jamestown Post-Journal or the Dunkirk Observer except on the slowest of news days -- and small town newspapers are notorious for publishing mundane "news". Now, the Olean Herald might print it since there's lots less crime in Catt County, so any crime would be "big news" there (j/k Catt County folks)!

    More to the point, that the Buffalo News failed to publish these "news stories" is hardly an indictment of the Buffalo Police Department having "suppressed" crime info. Isn't it reporters' jobs to find news stories??? Since this blogger obviously found them, they weren't suppressed. They simply weren't worthy of a news conference.
    Your right to buy a military weapon without hindrance, delay or training cannot trump Daniel Barden’s right to see his eighth birthday. -- Jim Himes

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    Linda_D, I think you're off!

    [QUOTE=Linda_D]YAAAWWWNNNN! Another feeble attempt to find "conspiracy" and "evil" where none exists.

    I don't think that either of those stories would make it into either the Jamestown Post-Journal or the Dunkirk Observer except on the slowest of news days -- and small town newspapers are notorious for publishing mundane "news". Now, the Olean Herald might print it since there's lots less crime in Catt County, so any crime would be "big news" there (j/k Catt County folks)!

    More to the point, that the Buffalo News failed to publish these "news stories" is hardly an indictment of the Buffalo Police Department having "suppressed" crime info. Isn't it reporters' jobs to find news stories??? Since this blogger obviously found them, they weren't suppressed. They simply weren't worthy of a news conference.[/QUOT+++

    ++++

    You so cavalierly dismiss Jim Heany's report with your glib retort, but do you sincerely fail to see the implications in this sort behavior in an administration proven to withhold information and truth?

  4. #4
    Member steven's Avatar
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    How was the information "withheld" if this guy knew about it?

    I dont see what the address of someone who got beaten up matters. Why would anyone need to know that some guy that lives at XXXX st in XXXXX town got beaten up in a location other then the one that he lives at? The adress of the incident I can almost understand but where the guy lives that took the beat down??? If it was me I wouldnt want my adress in the paper, would you?

    The guy at rite aid? , well that sounds like the kind of penny ante stuff employees do at retail esteblishments all the time. If everyone that stole something from the riteaid, walmart, kmart etc was reported in the news the paper would be full of that stuff. Just not newsworthy IMO.

    The crime stuff in the news is pretty bare bones to begin with. It always looks to me like all the do is take the blotter report and add a few words to it. There is no real investigative journalism when it comes to crime in the Buffalo news.
    People who wonder if the glass is half empty or full miss the point. The glass is refillable.

  5. #5
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    believe it the mayor and upper level brass in the dept want to scew the numbers to make them look better by saying look crime is down look what a good job I have done. every officer o this board has been saying it for years now maybe someone will believe it
    "PAY POLICE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT"
    "WE ARE HERE TO PROTECT YOUR ASS NOT KISS IT"
    "DOWN WITH BROWN"

  6. #6
    Member Linda_D's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by unioncop
    believe it the mayor and upper level brass in the dept want to scew the numbers to make them look better by saying look crime is down look what a good job I have done. every officer o this board has been saying it for years now maybe someone will believe it
    That's what every administration is every city/town/etc wants to do. That's usually dealing with statistics, however.

    The original post isn't about playing with stats, however. It's about how the Brown administration is supposedly "suppressing" penny ante crime news since these two-bit stories aren't being printed in the Buffalo News.
    Your right to buy a military weapon without hindrance, delay or training cannot trump Daniel Barden’s right to see his eighth birthday. -- Jim Himes

  7. #7
    Member Sylvan's Avatar
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    Im looking forward to reading a weekly "Kern Blotter" documenting all police activity in the City of Buffalo.

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    How often does anyone remember reading "Creepy loser on bike arrested again for stalking"?

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Linda_D
    That's what every administration is every city/town/etc wants to do. That's usually dealing with statistics, however.

    The original post isn't about playing with stats, however. It's about how the Brown administration is supposedly "suppressing" penny ante crime news since these two-bit stories aren't being printed in the Buffalo News.
    and why do you think the news is not publishing stories about crime? well I can answer it for you incase you dont know its to make people think the city is safer because of the work done by the mayor and his appointments its all about the numbers but if u think thats fine because its done everywhere and been being done forever then why so much bitching about take home cars(topic beat to death- just an example)
    "PAY POLICE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT"
    "WE ARE HERE TO PROTECT YOUR ASS NOT KISS IT"
    "DOWN WITH BROWN"

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by unioncop
    and why do you think the news is not publishing stories about crime? well I can answer it for you incase you dont know its to make people think the city is safer because of the work done by the mayor and his appointments its all about the numbers but if u think thats fine because its done everywhere and been being done forever then why so much bitching about take home cars(topic beat to death- just an example)

    The News guy this thread is about claims he wants to publish the info but the BPD Brass and the Mayor are making it difficult by limiting the details.
    It appears as though this is a case of the News actually wanting to publish this info, but are claiming they are being stonewalled.

  11. #11
    Member Dumbfounded's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Linda_D
    YAAAWWWNNNN! Another feeble attempt to find "conspiracy" and "evil" where none exists.

    I don't think that either of those stories would make it into either the Jamestown Post-Journal or the Dunkirk Observer except on the slowest of news days -- and small town newspapers are notorious for publishing mundane "news". Now, the Olean Herald might print it since there's lots less crime in Catt County, so any crime would be "big news" there (j/k Catt County folks)!

    More to the point, that the Buffalo News failed to publish these "news stories" is hardly an indictment of the Buffalo Police Department having "suppressed" crime info. Isn't it reporters' jobs to find news stories??? Since this blogger obviously found them, they weren't suppressed. They simply weren't worthy of a news conference.
    The police higher-ups are witholding vital information about criminal activity from the public who depends on the news (or are supposed to) to make decisions for their health, welfare and safety and
    some of Mayor Brown's duties are to the public's health, welfare and safety.

    The police department like any other organization wants to look as good as possible and I understand the THINKING behind that but witholding newsworthy stories about criminals-at-large, FULL descriptions of suspects is
    NOT "serving and protecting" the public's best interests

    Just don't get why most robbery and other violent crime news stories don't carry a the suspect's race;Its not racist to describe what color a violent criminal suspect is;I blame this glaring ommission on 'The Buffalo News'

    If this truly is a matter of a sterling "image" taking precedence over the public's safety,
    then there are some higher-ups who could care less about the average citizen (other than family and close friends)

    I guesing here, but I assume that the average cop HATES this policy of holding back news of violent crimes.

    Its OK to print out the names of "Johns" and their hookers but NOT a FULL crime "blotter page" in the news?

    Hell! A full-page police blotter in "The Buffalo News"
    would be a big draw! AND possibly help catch suspects in violent crimes faster


    Why would a reporter exaggerate and mininform the public on his blog?
    Don't think Heaney's trying to misinform anyone on his blog.
    If Margaret Sullivan had to step in, you KNOW that the "bigshots" running Buffalo are trying to look good and keep things "quiet," as not to appear incompetent and NO, I'm not talking about the average officer on the streets.

    "Funny": Image and ego over responsibility and ethics.
    Gee.
    I'm shocked.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by FisherRd
    It appears as though this is a case of the News actually wanting to publish this info, but are claiming they are being stonewalled.
    The way I read it, the News isn't saying wether they would publish a story or not becuase the Mayor's office won't let the press have any facts.

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    I'm Shocked I say Shocked

    WHAT ! The White Shirts would " cook the books " to make Mayor BB look good ??


    I'm Shocked
    Last edited by rocking ron; August 5th, 2008 at 03:59 PM.

  14. #14
    Member Linda_D's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by unioncop
    and why do you think the news is not publishing stories about crime? well I can answer it for you incase you dont know its to make people think the city is safer because of the work done by the mayor and his appointments its all about the numbers but if u think thats fine because its done everywhere and been being done forever then why so much bitching about take home cars(topic beat to death- just an example)
    unioncop, we're talking about some guy who got involved in a street fight and needed bandages ... not a trip to the ER ... and a Rite Aid employee who was pilfering prescriptions. Somehow I don't think "suppressing" the details on these two "heinous crimes" is going to make Buffalonians -- or anyone else -- feel safer. This is a "tempest in a teapot" served up by a blogger and the estwhile manure spreader, Dick Kern.

    As for take home cars, the problem apparently dates back over 50 years, so it sure didn't originate with the Brown administration. It's just another example of Buffalo pols feathering their own nests. So, what else is new? I'm not sure what the connection is to the "evil" of the police not giving out all the tiniest details about petty crimes.
    Your right to buy a military weapon without hindrance, delay or training cannot trump Daniel Barden’s right to see his eighth birthday. -- Jim Himes

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    Crimes

    Linda D. ,


    Did you say heinous crimes or anus crimes ?

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