| In an effort to understand the roles of a police officer as crime fighter, social servant, order maintainer and crime preventer we turn to the news media. The media’s commentary on our society’s crimes and the reports of how the police conduct their investigations play such a role in our criminal justice system that prospective jury participants are often questioned about their level of knowledge on the case that will be presented to them. Does the media accurately represent what our police officers do, or are their reports used to sway the popular opinion? On the other hand, do they create creative plots to help increase viewer ratings or print sales? Analyzing the media coverage of the case of Daniel Lovelace and exploring reports of the four roles of police officers, I will try to explain the media’s portrayal of our law enforcement’s actions.
Most people get information about what goes on in their world, nation, and community from the news media. Print and visual media report the facts, but is the truth accurately represented? We depend on our police officers to fight crime and maintain order, but do we create misguided beliefs based on the media’s portrayal of our law enforcement officers?
In 2001, news media initially reported that Chandler police officer Daniel Lovelace was successful in fighting crime when he shot Dawn Rae Nelson when she attempted to run him over with her car fleeing after attempting to pass a forged prescription. Days later, the news media, based on reports from Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romeley, started reporting that Officer Lovelace’s account of what happened was incorrect (Mehrens, n.d.. For almost two years, the media would report every possible version of what had happened, and would create a separation of opinion among the community about how the police conduct business.
In Everett, Washington officers were applauded for their steps in preventing crime in their area by taking a proactive approach. Using two years of police data that included 911 calls and incident reports gathered by The Herald, Everett police concentrate on identifying crime based on patterns created by the data evaluated (North, 2003). Does this article of praise about the efforts of law enforcement contrast with the Officer Lovelace reports because Everett police are doing a better job, or is it because the reporting media has a vested interest in the outcome of law enforcement efforts?
What about when officers fail or succeed in maintaining order in the community? George Kelling, while walking with patrol officers in Newark, New Jersey, tried to understand how officers defined “order” (1982). Kelling discovered that the definition of order changed from neighborhood to neighborhood, but the citizens knew what it was, and expected the patrolling officers to maintain it. Kelling continued to explain that even though citizens feel as if order is maintained, crimes had not decreased.
However, twenty years later, and on the other side of the country, Leslie Davis reports that foot-patrolling officers have been key to the prevention of crime and maintaining order on San Francisco transit systems (2003). Is the two-decade time lapse the reason that these two stories differ, or is it because of the change in city cultures? Is it possible that it is because Kelling’s story included uniformed white officers patrolling predominantly black neighborhoods and Davis’ officers patrol in plainclothes, mixing in with the crowd? Davis even notes that uniformed officers are effective in deterring crime, but that undercover patrols catch more criminals. It is possible to consider that Kelling’s findings are premature, and that Newark’s decision to begin foot-patrol officers was a step in the direction towards community policing.
In the concept of community policing, officers begin to take on a social servant role with their communities while also preventing and fighting crime, and maintaining order. Phil Worts, a San Diego police officer, explains that community policing is nothing more than a shift from “a constitutionally empowered local police force performing their duty to keep the peace to that of a change agent working with the community to affect a Marxist paradigm shift” (2001). If Detective Worts is correct, that would possibly indicate that the news media is withholding the fact that community policing is rooted in Communist beliefs because it is effective and Communism has a bad connotation to it.
Therefore, that would mean that the news media reports what fits their agenda or purpose. What is that purpose? Are their intentions to stir public opinion against community police, or are they interested in making changes in police policy that will benefit their community’s citizens?
Returning to Officer Lovelace’s incident, we question the validity of initial media reports versus reports made later that included witness testimony and ballistic tests. After-the-fact analysis leads one to believe that Officer Lovelace may have operated beyond his limits and responded improperly. Media accounts of facts and studies that indicate that he murdered Dawn Rae Nelson filled the Phoenix metro news sources, but the media neglected to report that the Chandler Law Enforcement Association had re-enacted scenarios of what had happened and had come to two important decisions. The individual playing Officer Lovelace was so fearful of the accelerating car that he tripped trying to get away from it, and that the event happened very quickly (AZPOST findings in Dan Lovelace matter, n.d.).
It appears that the media accurately reports facts, but we have seen that not all the facts are present during their reports. Public opinion of the effectiveness of police work depends on what side the news media decides to present to them. Police officers prevent and fight crime, maintain order, and act within their communities as ambassadors of peace in an effort to help citizens take their neighborhoods back from the criminals, but the news media informs the community what the news media want to. Sometimes in a good light, sometimes casting shadows on how the police conduct business, but always with facts. Facts presented how they see fit. |
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AZPOST findings in Dan Lovelace matter. (n.d.). Chandler Law Enforcement Association. Retrieved December 18, 2004, from http://www.cpdclea.com.
Davis, L. (September/October, 2003). It pays to be plain. Metro Magazine. Retrieved December 21, 2004, from http://www.metro-magazine.com.
Mehrens, C. (n.d.). Chandler police officer Dan Lovelace. Arizona Police Association. Retrieved December 18, 2004, from http://www.azpolice.org.
North, S. (April 6, 2003). Crime-fighting by the numbers. The Daily Herald. Retrieved December 20, 2004, from http://www.heraldnet.com.
Wilson, J. Q. & Kelling, G. L. (March 1982). Broken windows – the police and neighborhood safety. Free Republic. Retrieved December 19, 2004, from http://www.freerepublic.com.
Worts, P. (June 1, 2001). Communist oriented policing. News With Views. Retrieved December 20, 2004, from http://www.newswithviews.com. |
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