Shooting story shows paper's bias
Working in law enforcement since 1967, I thought I would have gotten accustomed to the media and would not have let a news article bother me -- but your bias and dislike for law enforcement is blatant.
So much for media objectivity.
If the police department is holding back information, where did you get the information you have? A police officer's life was threatened; this human being in a uniform had to make a split-second decision that will haunt him the rest of his life. His family has to get used to people looking, pointing, staring, maybe even ostracizing him, his family and his children -- let's not go there.
Why are you not writing about the daily encounters where officers put themselves in jeopardy? Tell your readers about walking down dark alleys, into abandoned basements, hunting for a criminal in total darkness. Try researching the cops who are killed walking up to a driver's door.
Talk about the next three or four years that this officer and his family are going to be in and out of civil court. Predict how this officer will react in the next similar situation -- maybe the cops have read your article, maybe they will be thinking about it as they hesitate -- then you can write about an overly aggressive cop being killed, you can blame another officer for being involved in a situation he had nothing to do with creating.
Will you do that? Of course not, your objectivity won't let you do that, you would rather slam a police officer, someone you don't even know or have ever met. A "person" that is going through the biggest trauma of his life, and a police department and city that are facing an inevitable multi-million dollar lawsuit from our pristine attorneys at law. A police department that now knows who the local press will stand behind when a tragedy strikes again.
At least be honest with yourself and your readers. Let reporters handle the news and you practice truth in advertising -- stay on the editorial page where readers recognize opinions versus news.
George Scharm, professor
Law Enforcement Program
Oakton Community College, Des Plaines