Does society gain a better picture of crime and policing if news is controlled by press officers?

Arguably, stories involving the police have been a key factor in news for as long as there have been journalists. From the local reporting of every day court cases to the level of national furore surrounding the hunt for a murderer like that seen in the Joanna Yates case; every step the police force takes, a journalist is always there. However despite their close quarters in terms of working and co-existing, few public sector relationships are arguably frostier than the one held between the police and the media. Some might say that the introduction of public relations teams within the framework of police forces across the the country to deal with story-hungry reporters is a step towards improving the relationship. But with the rise of PR lead stories and their associated news values being described as a bizarre and worrying development by Nick Davis in 'Flat Earth News' (2009 p.87), is the idea of a public relations controlled police department in fact more of a hindrance than a help to today's journalists in painting a clear picture of their actions? One argument against the idea that PR officers help society to gain a better picture of crime and policing is the potential for PR officers to skew the material they release to give an overly sanitised image of their police forces. It stands to reason that any public relations team will aim to only protect and enhance the image of whatever organisation they are working for, leaving out or covering up any negatives or mistakes that their clients might make. Nick Davies in 'Flat Earth News' (2009 p. 87) backs up this idea by describing how the police officer who wins a commendation for bravery gets a press release; the officer who is caught drunk on duty gets none. Although there is an argument in favour of maintaining and bolstering the public's confidence in their police forces by concealing their faults, such practice would arguably restrict society from gaining a full picture of everything going on in with the police and perhaps ultimately might encourage the media to do their own digging into such cover-ups. The idea that PR agents manipulate and restrict the information they give out is reinforced by broadcast journalist David Rose, who was quoted in the Home Affairs Committee's Police And The Media report (2008, 'Media access to information' section) as saying how he felt that the police saw reporters as something to be handled, spun and controlled rather than engaged. There is an argument that a news-hungry media can in fact work to keep the police force in check. Over the years police forces across the world have been held accountable to their mistakes by reporters who stumble upon instances where the police are in the wrong. David J Thomas agrees with this, stating in 'Professionalism In Policing An Introduction' (2011 p.154) that the media can often become policing's greatest form of oversight. He further discusses how the media has been the cause for reform in police administration in recent decades due to the way it has exposed atrocities committed by their police officers. Thomas here cites the case of Rodney King as an example of such police wrongdoing worldwide being brought to light in the media. Here not only were honest mistakes or minor blunders on the part of the police uncovered, but an incident of fullblown police brutality which many believe triggered the 1992 LA riots. Whilst the incident was brought to light through the combined forces of a member of the public who videotaped the incident and the power of the mass media back in the 1990's, the aim of today's press-controlled police force would be to cover up any such mistakes as quickly as possible, therefore maintaining their image in the eyes of the public and the media. It's arguable therefore that if such incidents went unchecked by reporters who solely rely on today's police press officers, the public and the media would be unaware of any potential wrongdoing committed by the police force. This suggests that an increased focus on a PR dominated police force could potentially shield the public from the injustices committed by officers and ultimately lead to a false and incredibly one-sided picture of their operations. Another stumbling block for today's reporters is that even with the introduction of press officers, sometimes the police simply don't want to talk to journalists. Broadcaster David Rose is quoted in

the Home Affairs Committee's 'Police And The Media' report (2008, 'Media access to information' section), discussing how he has lost count of the times he had been asked what's in it for us? by the police when putting in a call for information. Deputy Chief Constable Andy Trotter is quoted in the same report (2008, 'Media access to information' section) as saying that his police force's general stance is to encourage as much openness in the media as possible and that generally speaking they want the information to be released in order to assist the investigation and find witnesses. Although this does suggest a readiness on behalf of the police to comply with the media's requests, the generally speaking perhaps hints at something of an overarching unwillingness to comply with the questions posed unless they are to the police force's benefit. This sentiment is backed up by Bill Reader in 'Journalism Ethics Goes To The Movies' (2008, p. 81), who discusses how journalists often complain that police are obstructionist to the public's right to know. In instances like this, the introduction of PR officers may be therefore seen as not providing a clearer picture of policing by still being unwilling to communicate with those asking questions. However, it is worth considering that there are reasons for police unwillingness beyond simple dislike of media contact. In some instances, it could be said that it is in the police's best interests to keep contact to a minimum. In 'Professionalism And Policing: An Introduction' (2011, p.154-155) David J Thomas discusses how changes in the media have lead to added concerns for the police force. According to Thomas, news has become a for-profit business over the last twenty years, with increased focus on ratings, subscriptions and advertising dollars. Because of this, Thomas argues that whilst the police use the media to get information out to the public, the media will be looking for a more controversial or salacious story in order to get higher readership and therefore higher sales. Because of this, the police arguably have to be more careful than ever in the way that they conduct themselves amongst journalists and the media, with reporters more than ready to call out any police mistakes or personal indescrepencies if they arise. Another factor discussed by Thomas (2011, p.154-155) is the growth of the World Wide Web and social media. Here the internet is discussed as a form of media that differs from traditional media sources, with the power to give instant access to anyone and everyone around the world. Thomas states that this poses a problem for the police in that raw video footage can be captured and uploaded to the internet as an incident is in progress which then leads the police to explain their behaviour after public opinion has been formed. In the face of this, PR could be said to be a positive step to providing a better picture of policing as without such a system, modern-day police officers acting without a PR team could arguably be scared into relative silence by such issues, made worse by the use of the Freedom Of Information Act and the influx of hand-tying legislation enforced upon today's police force. One of the main arguments in favour of using PR to provide a better picture of crime and policing is that it could be said to improve relations between the police and the media. In the not too distant past, the relationship between the media and police officers has been less than rosy. However, regardless of how tense the situation may be, both organisations ultimately need one another. The police force need the media to reach out to the public for witnesses and information on crimes, and the media need stories from the police to form material on, particularly if they're a local news outlet. This idea of mutual dependence is backed up by Bill Reader in Journalism Ethics Goes To The Movies (2008, p.81) when he claims that despite the well documented evidence suggesting that such tension exists, journalists rely on the police for providing information and police rely on journalists to make their work known to the public. Andrew Boyd agrees with this, stating in Broadcast Journalism: Techniques Of TV And Radio News (2008, p.44) that often the police need the media as much as the media needs the police. The introduction of PR agents to act as middlemen between the two sides could therefore be said to ease some of the tension of what could be said to be a fraught yet ultimately necessary relationship. In previous years, reluctance on behalf of the police force to comment on cases and incidents was commonplace, with reporters being fended off at crime scenes without any PR department to call for information. Nowadays, although

it is perhaps true that police officers are still not fond of talking to the press, the use of PR creates a useful alternative to direct calls for information to. On the face of it, PR officers should therefore be able to deal with calls from reporters whilst allowing the officers to go about their business. This could be said to ultimately give a clearer picture of crime and policing by allowing reporters to deal with people who's job is to specifically provide information for them and the public. A knock-on effect of improved PR and media relations could be increased public faith in crime and policing. The movement towards a PR controlled police force was born out of a period of poor relations between the public and the police following high profile cases such as the Brixton Riot and the Broadwater Farm Riot during the 1980's. According to Gloucestershire Constabulary's PR department (2011), the public became more distrustful of authority during this time, citing the Broadwater Farm riots as a major catalyst for the breakdown in relations between the police and the public. According to them, the police felt the need to win the public's hearts and minds in order to retain any sense of authority. A step towards this was the introduction of the PR department. Gloucestershire Constabulary further referenced the effect of cases such as the Moors Murders, which was said to have incited a voracious response from the media. Here the press officers were brought in to deal with the high frequency of calls and questions from the media at large, easing responsibility from investigators, whom the constabulary claim were caused significant problems by the media through such actions as paying witnesses in criminal cases for information. In instances such as these, there is an argument that PR officers work to give a clearer picture of policing by improving relations between the public, the media and the police force, also easing pressure off of police officers whose chief job should be to solve crimes, not to deal with the world's mass media. Another downside against the idea of PR providing additional clarity into police doings is the idea that the PR service isn't always efficient. Andrew Boyd discusses in Broadcast Journalism: Techniques Of TV And Radio News (2008, p.44) how constabularies can be organised on a county basis, each with its own press officer to collect important news from all the police stations in the area and release them to the media. A result of this, according to Boyd, is that the press officer can overlook bread and butter items and be too slow off the mark with breaking stories due to them being distant from the scene of the crime. Although this may not be the case for all police stations, those that do operate with a sparser PR system spread across a county may find that their efforts are too slow for reporters looking for the latest leads, and ultimately may lead to the public gaining a less clear picture of up-to-the-minute police stories due to lack of timely information. Overall, despite the potential benefits that a PR enforced police team could provide in creating a clearer picture of crime and policing, I feel that a PR-based system ultimately restricts the public from seeing the full picture of what truly goes on behind the scenes. Whilst some may argue that it's in the public's interest to have total confidence in their police force, even at the cost of withholding negativity, I feel it's important that police wrongdoing is brought to light and instances of brutality and misconduct are brought to the public's consciousness rather than being swept under the rug by press officers trying to maintain the police's public image.

Bibliography Boyd, A. Stewart, P. Alexander, R. (2008) Broadcast Journalism Techniques Of Radio & Television News 6th edn. Focal Press, Burlington, page 44 Davies, N. (2009) Flat Earth News. Vintage, London page 87 Great Britain. House Of Commons Home Affairs Committee (2008) Police And The Media [Online] Available at: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmhaff/75/7506.htm (Last Accessed: 14/01/2012) Reader, B.(2008) Journalism Ethics Goes To The Movies. Roman & Littlefield, USA page 81 Smyth, R. Nelmes, K (2011) Police and the Media [Powerpoint presentation]. Day/Month. Thomas, D.J.(2011) Professionalism In Policing. Delmar, New York, page 154-155