OpenCDA

July 26, 2014

Deception By Omission

Filed under: Probable Cause — Tags: , , — Bill @ 11:05 am

WriteToldMore and more it appears to OpenCdA that  the Coeur d’Alene Press newspaper is intentionally withholding important information about the shooting of Arfee the dog by a Coeur d’Alene police officer.

A line from The Spokesman-Review article dated July 25, 2014, and headlined Coeur d’Alene officers must view videos on encountering dogs reads, “Wood said the officer’s body camera was not in use during the confrontation with the dog.”  Wood is Sergeant Christie Wood, the Coeur d’Alene Police Department’s public information officer.

The Spokesman-Review’s article was picked up by the Associated Press and reported in the online Idaho Statesman, a Boise newspaper, in this article dated July 25, 2014, and headlined N. Idaho police to get training on dog encounters.   The Statesman’s article reads, “Sgt. Christie Wood, police spokeswoman, said the officer’s body camera wasn’t on at the time.”

Going back through the Coeur d’Alene Press online stories about the dog’s shooting, OpenCdA has been unable to find any Press reporting of that very newsworthy piece of information.

Why did The Spokesman-Review and the Idaho Statesman report the information but our own local newspaper,  the Coeur d’Alene Press, did not?  It was an important and very newsworthy revelation by the Coeur d’Alene Police Department’s public information officer, and it should have been reported in the local newspaper story.  Why wasn’t this reported?  What else is the Press willing to hide from its readers?

We also question why the Police Department released this piece of information now.  It is clearly a product of the internal investigation, and the City has assured its citizens that the results of the investigation will be made public after it has been reviewed by City managers and a third party.   Who authorized the release of the information attributed to Sergeant Wood?

10 Comments

  1. Bill, our own newspaper is not going to report this type of ‘omission’ because we are the “mecca” of tourism and of course we have a new downtown dog park. Omission of critical data involving the Kennedy/Brannon election involving Sandy Martinson is just another example of missing pieces in a puzzle that works in ‘their’ favor, which most folks have already forgotten. These kinds of omissions are most likely justified for the greater good of us all like the need for a nice downtown dog park. Body cameras that are ‘conveniently’ on or off will only serve to protect the image of an incompetent police force. People are getting their own videos these days and the reason is obvious. The “spin” or lack there of is always in the reporting. Additionally,’they’ do not want potential tourists worrying about their dogs. God forbid we get a flying dachshund. Sergeant Wood is a public relations/spokesperson officer, she probably authorizes her own material. But, I am sure you already knew the answer.

    Reminder: This is Idaho.

    Comment by Stebbijo — July 26, 2014 @ 2:50 pm

  2. Stebbijo,

    I agree. It comes as no surprise that the Coeur d’Alene Press would skew the news. Who is going to hold the skewspaper accountable? No one.

    However, equally and maybe more troubling to me is that the police department is releasing a key piece of information derived from the investigation. In its online article dated July 16 and headlined Dog shooter on desk duty, the Press said:

    The internal investigation, [Coeur d’Alene acting Police Chief] Clark added, will be “complete and objective.” Once the investigation is concluded, the results will be reviewed by the city’s administration and legal team.

    A third party which Clark said has not yet been determined will also be reviewing the incident. He said the findings of the investigation will be made public only after it is complete.[emphasis mine]

    So on or before July 16 acting Chief Clark promised that the findings of the investigation would be released to the public only after the investigation was complete and after the results had been reviewed by the City’s administration and legal team and the phantom third party. Yet on or before July 25, his public information officer Sergeant Christie Wood released an important piece of information (a finding) from the investigation. Did Clark authorize that information release? If so, then he has clearly misled the public. If not, then who did authorize it?

    If Wood did not get her direction from within the Department, who in City government above the Chief gave her the authority or direction to release the information? And why would the City administration want that fragment of the investigation released now? I have my own ideas on the answer to that, but we’ll wait and see what else comes out.

    Comment by Bill — July 26, 2014 @ 3:30 pm

  3. As you know over the years people that care about the overall health of this community, wanting an accountable and responsible government, many folks have stood up and pointed out with fact to this “NEWS PAPER” many wrong doings in our city. Comments get deleted, they are chastised, ridiculed, even banished from commenting if they do not tow the line. The city government and the key players can do no wrong in the “NEWS” papers eyes.

    The press is a joke of a rag masquerading to be the “voice of the people”. It is not news. It is nothing more than a waste of ink on paper barely worthy of lining the bottom of a birdcage or rolled up to discipline a dog.

    Comment by concernedcitizen — July 27, 2014 @ 8:15 am

  4. Maybe the answers lie in the brains of the attorneys who represent this municipality? Maybe the city council could address this issue? As far as the skewspaper, most people know if they want the ‘real’ story, they read this blog.

    Comment by Stebbijo — July 27, 2014 @ 10:09 am

  5. Of course the body cam wasn’t on, on course was partial information being made public before the conclusion of the entire (vetted) internal report, as was promised by both the Mayor and acting Police Chief. Unfortunate though, is that with every misstep and/or contradiction that perception has become “reality” and that is a battle never won with facts (or the omission thereof) or by selectively reporting bits and pieces.

    In the eyes of the most critical the officer was negligent and is no longer worthy to carry a weapon for the City. Any other conclusions reached will be seen as more cover-up, more spin, and result in more distrust in the entire City management and the whole of the Press that more often than not serves the city’s image–not reality.

    Or as Arthur Miller put it, “All we need is food, sex, and an image. Everything else is commentary on the above.” A sad state of affairs with no way out but down.

    Comment by Old Dog — July 27, 2014 @ 10:18 am

  6. It seems to me that the City’s best hope of preventing these types of incidents is to insist that the investigative report be timely, complete, and unbiased. In addition to assessing the conduct of the officer who fired the shot, it needs to include a performance analysis of all in the chain-of-command above him. For example, if the officer truthfully believed his actions, all of them and not just the firearms discharge, were within policy but they are found not to have been, then the report needs to determine if his misunderstanding or intentional ignorance of policy and good practices (e.g., waiting for cover/backup) was condoned or even encouraged by supervisors. The investigative report should not be a career insurance policy for sergeants and higher in the department. Failure to properly train and supervise leads to poor subordinate performance.

    Comment by Bill — July 27, 2014 @ 11:17 am

  7. ‘They’ don’t care. It is just damage control in a puppet act gone bad. This incident went viral, so they were under the radar. I think the most frustrating aspect of living in Idaho is knowing that Old Dog is right. One nice thing about taking a breather somewhere else is the fresh reprieve of not knowing anyone or getting involved. Once you are in the know,here, it dampens the beauty and joy of living in our “tourism mecca” that is steadily declining into much worse than it ever was and it is especially bitter to those who ‘used to know’ how it ‘used to be.’ Unless, you are part of the progressive destruction of North Idaho, you are out.

    Image is everything here, that is why only folks “who pay to play” on the pub-cycle can have an open container with alcohol. Unbelievable – our city council et.al sees this as okay for only special interest businesses? Excerpt from city council minutes: “They are trying to create a tourist friendly atmosphere and provide scenic tours, and most responsible adults are responsible people. “

    Comment by Stebbijo — July 27, 2014 @ 1:34 pm

  8. Steb,

    Love the Minutes promoting the bar-bike, “…most responsible adults are responsible people.” It’s almost like saying: Pig is food, beer is food, therefore–pig is beer, drink one up!

    Appreciate the “reprieve”, although, I consider it a well-deserved sabbatical.

    Comment by Old Dog — July 27, 2014 @ 4:32 pm

  9. The reality is that the vast majority of working people don’t read this blog or any blog. To the extent that working people get news they read it in the morning paper (remember when there was an evening paper?) or they watch the ‘local’ (Spokane) news on TV. If there is a desire to get accurate and unbiased news out to the majority of the people there will need to be a new local NEWSpaper. Enough concerned people working together could get one up and running. If that does not occur, there is no reason to expect any large scale change in the foreseeable future.

    Comment by up river — July 30, 2014 @ 8:31 am

  10. up river,

    If you’re limiting your comment (working people get news from the morning paper) to Coeur d’Alene area, you’re probably correct. In part, however, that’s because there are no alternatives. CdA has no terrestrial radio station with a competent news staff — and hasn’t had one for years. CdA has no television station at all. The Spokane TV stations own news coverage of northern Idaho has been constricting for years. That’s also true of the Spokane skewspaper.

    And if you go to the WSU J-school webpages, you’ll find that most J-students now are oriented toward multi-media technology production and presentation of the news.

    Weblogs can’t and shouldn’t be expected to be a replacement for timely, accurate, complete news coverage. Then again, the same can be said about the Couer d’Alene Press and The Spokesman-Review. “Timely, accurate, complete news coverage” left their mission statements long ago.

    Comment by Bill — July 30, 2014 @ 9:18 am

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