I made a call to the Concord Police Dept and spoke with Lieutenant Gartner in the cities Major Crimes Division. I wanted to know how and if I could be added to their distribution list for press releases. The Concord Police issue press releases individually through each division so starting with Major Crimes made the most sense. I figure this is the information most people would be interested in reading about in the city.

The Concord Police issue these to mainstream media like the Contra Costa Times and local TV with the hopes of getting some attention put on a criminal event. The problem with mainstream media is that they have agendas and they usually roll around sensationalism, so if there is a HOT topic being discussed, these city press releases can get lost in the shuffle or only given minimal exposure to the public.

This is where local blogs come into play. A local blog has a specific focus and generally speaking does not carry an agenda. Concord is a relatively small city for a blog to focus on. I would have thought a year ago that a blog focusing on suburbia would be of little interest to anyone, but I now know it’s the opposite. People in Concord want to know what’s going on in their little piece of heaven and mainstream media can only tell them so much, so they turn to the internet and find sites that talk about the issues, news and events they are interested in. Local blogging is a niche and people love niches.

Blogging is a type of journalism. Local blogging is the same. Journalists have specific rights guaranteed by the Constitution the same goes for bloggers. Even though this fight has been taken to the courts, it’s been decided that bloggers have rights.

One of those rights is to have access to press releases through the Freedom Of Information Act. Now if any of you are familiar with the FOIA, you will know that this paper shuffling can go on for weeks, months and years depending on what you are looking for. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a group that confronts and defends blogger rights and has a wealth of information. It turns out the State of California has already ruled on this matter and made it clear that bloggers share many of the same rights as mainstream media. They have a Bloggers Legal Guide if you are interested.

Getting added to the distribution list of the Concord Police Dept. didn’t sound like a hard thing to do. Call the person in charge and ask to be added. Turns out Concord has a different take on it. In my short conversation with Lt. Gartner I mentioned I was interested in getting added to the distribution of the Major Crime press releases and as I should have expected, he asked what news agency I was with.

“I’m not with an agency, I write in a local blog.”

He asked for the name of the site and heard his keyboard tapping in the distance. While he was doing this he asked me my name and wondered how long I’ve been doing this blogging thing. I explained to him that the Mayor of Concord was a new site but have my personal site that has been around for years and I started writing in that while I was serving overseas in Iraq.

As professionally as he could he explained that the police dept. does not like to issue press releases to ‘bloggers’ and referenced a site that he has had issues with in the past. Information was misused. I wanted to dig deeper but he made is point clear. I was almost embarrassed for the ‘other’ guy. Sure the press releases are meant for public consumption so I am unclear on how it was used unfavorably but something must have happened.

The point of a blog in any niche is to be professional. I know that this is not always the case but credit and respect are really only paid to the responsible sites anyway. I was shocked to hear that this wasn’t the case. I remember while I was blogging from Iraq that I was called into question. Police, like the military want to make sure that information is being released without compromising people or cases. I can appreciate that, but again, these are press releases not individual officers writing in a blog.

A responsible local blog would want to work with the local agencies I would think. Sure there will be posts that are more controversial than you would find in mainstream media and bloggers have the right to opinions and put out the stories they want but the same is true with other media as well. Dealing with information for a city police dept. should be handled with respect since as a writer you want to be respected by the people giving you the information. What’s the point of being the guy the police feel forced to deal with, they should want to deal with you.

I guess that’s another lesson to be learned in the local blogging scene. I spoke with the Lieutenant for a couple minutes and explained I understood his position. I told him that it was in my interests to work with them and not get thrown into ‘that’ bucket of people he’s had experience with in the past. I think a local blog can work with a local police dept. in many ways.

The Concord Police Mission Statement makes a point of this.

The members of the Concord Police Department are dedicated to providing the highest quality police services in order to enhance community safety, protect life and property, and reduce crime and the fear of crime. To do this, we pledge to develop a partnership with the community, lead a community commitment to resolve problems, and improve the safety and quality of life in our city.

Partnering with the community can make a huge impact if the local blog scene is supported. Since the city does not have a forum online of their own, the local blog scene can help discuss issues of crime and bring concerns out without risk.

Working together in partnership with other City employees and the community, we will be recognized as one of the foremost professional, effective, and progressive police departments in California. Year after year, we will lead in efforts to improve and sustain the public safety and quality of life in our City.

I can’t think of anything more progressive for a police department than working with the local blogs that can help share and disseminate information important to the community.

In the end, he said he had to discuss this with the City Attorney and he would get back to me in a week. I can only imagine this will be the same City Attorney I had a run in with when I started the site. Most of the initial reaction to my site was regarding the use of the city logo which has all been removed but it was clear to me that the City of Concord has not put to much thought into technology and the internet. Concord should have this discussion. Since blogs have the same rights as mainstream media, how do they qualify the bloggers to grant them access? Maybe the Chief of Police needs to set a standard that needs to be met by bloggers to validate their access. I don’t know. I’m not a politician so maybe the real Mayor of Concord needs to make the call. Many cities around the US are being faced with the same dilemma. Local bloggers want to write about their cities and the city government should be looking at ways to work with these creative people and not shut them out. As I mentioned in why local blogging is important, As a writer/blogger you can help bring attention to the real issues and highlight some of the greatness of your city.

I guess I will have to wait to hear the outcome. I am sure it’s not going to be easy, it rarely is. I know I have the right to access this information but going through the process could be painful if they want it to be that way. I would like to think blogs and local government can work together. We may not always agree but there should be no disrespect in the process.

Question: Do you think police departments should give press releases to local bloggers and if so, what standards if any should a blog owner be held to?

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