| Chapter 1
The
Crime Beat
By
Dave Krajicek
Beat History
Society's fascination with crime and personal indiscretion is as
old as history. The themes run through much of the world's great
art, music and literature. People have told stories about crime
since before the printed word.
Crime was not considered a fitting subject for serious newspapers
– filled, as they were, with stories about commerce and politics
– until two centuries ago, when London newspapers began to
assign men to cover police court. These journalists produced entertaining,
impolite stories about petty lawbreakers.
Police reporters arrived in New York amid the competitive zeal
of the American Penny Press of the 1830s and '40s, pushing further
the envelope of appropriateness in crime news as more and more lurid
details made their way into print. Next, Joseph Pulitzer and William
Randolph Hearst – with their high-speed presses, mastery of
hype and "yellow" tendencies – created a new paradigm
of crime coverage at the turn of the 20th Century.
Tabloid-sized newspapers, which began proliferating in about 1920,
gave busy readers a story budget heavy with terse, punchy crime
stories. The big-city "tabs" were crime-coverage leaders
for most of the last century, until television coverage of police
news took on a tabloid edge with the advent of crime-heavy TV magazine
programs in the mid-1980s.
Crime news spiked in the 1990s, even as crime rates were declining,
driven by high-profile cases such as school shootings, the slaying
of O.J. Simpson's wife in California and the murder in Colorado
of Jon Benet Ramsey. For more details on crime reporting history,
click here.
Crime Defined
State and federal crime laws fall under two categories, civil and
criminal.
In civil cases, as the Associated Press Stylebook puts it,
"an individual, business or agency of government seeks damages
or relief from another individual, business or agency."
Civil law concerns conduct alleged to have harmed an individual
or organization rather than society at large. In most civil cases,
one party sues another for financial damages or relief. One category
of civil cases, called actions at law, includes property and contract
disputes as well as personal injury cases. The second category,
equity proceedings, concerns attempts to compel a person, business
or group toward some action – to stop polluting, for example.
Divorce proceedings and libel lawsuits fall under the jurisdiction
of civil law. Civil suits related to criminal cases are not uncommon.
Simpson won criminal trial acquittal but was found liable for his
wife's death in a civil trial.
Criminal cases concern actions brought by the government,
on behalf of citizens, against individuals alleged to have harmed
the state or society at large by violating criminal statutes.
The FBI and most state and local law enforcement agencies tabulate
crime data under one of seven major categories: Murder, rape, robbery
and assault (all violent crimes), and burglary, theft and auto theft
(property crimes). These tabulations allow long-term tracking of
crime patterns.
Under the federal definition, a felony is a crime that carries
a potential penalty of more than a year in prison, a misdemeanor
less than a year. However, the definition varies broadly from one
local or state jurisdiction to the next. It is safe to say that
a felony is more serious than a misdemeanor. A violation is an even
lesser offense – speeding or petty littering, for example.
Some journalists confuse robbery, burglary, larceny and theft.
- Larceny encompasses any wrongful taking of property.
- Theft is larceny without a threat or violence, such
as a picked pocket. Many forms of white-collar financial crimes
are variations of theft.
- Fraud is a form of theft, sometimes defined as theft
by deception.
- Tax evasion is another form of theft.
- Auto theft is self-explanatory.
- Robbery is a larceny accompanied by violence or threats,
including a finger under the jacket to indicate a gun.
- Burglary is the unlawful entering of a premises with
the intent to commit a crime. A burglary does not involve violence.
But if a homeowner discovers the burglar and violence ensues,
the burglary becomes a robbery. ("Home invasion,"
a phrase that became popularized in the 1990s and was followed
by special-penalty laws, is a break-in robbery.)
Perpetrators of these acts might face any number of specific charges.
In some states, home invasion is a specific felony charge. In others,
the perpetrator might be charged with robbery, use of a weapon to
commit a felony and going armed to commit terror. The choice of
federal or state jurisdictions to file a case often can be an issue
when a crime violates a federal statute – a policy issue that
became popular in Washington in the crime run-up of the 1980s.
A bank robber might face federal charges. A group of men who sell
narcotics might be charged with conspiracy under the federal Racketeering
Influenced, Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Other crimes were
traditionally placed under the umbrella of "morals," "vice"
or corruption – for example, liquor violations, prostitution
and narcotics. (For more on narcotics, please
see that section of this CJJ Guide.)
Crime Beat Basics
Editors
Relationships with editors can be tested frequently on a stressful,
demanding beat like crime. The issue is important. Job stress and
poor relationships with news managers are cited frequently as factors
among journalists who say they are dissatisfied with their job.
Conflicts over the creative elements of writing and reporting can
compound poor editor-reporter relations. Try to accept suggestions
graciously, and try not to take criticism (or editing) personally.
Here are simple tips to gain the trust and support of an editor,
news director or producer:
- Be punctual.
- Spell well and report accurately.
No beat produces more possibilities for error than crime, with
its daily diet of fresh names, ages, addresses and other 5-W details.
- Minimize errors by fact-checking.
Editors tread lightly on the work of reporters with a reputation
for accuracy. Tips: 1. Eliminate most potential mistakes by double-checking
proper nouns and numbers. 2. Print and reread your story before
submitting. You will catch errors in print that you miss on a
computer screen.
- Stay in contact.
- Use your time efficiently.
- Make deadlines.
- Don't surprise your editor or news director.
- Consider personal comportment and dress appropriately.
- Don't whine.
Beat Background
Ask your boss to allow beat backgrounding time. A two-week training
period would allow a proper start on the beat. If that is not feasible,
insist on a free afternoon each week until you have introduced yourself
around the agencies you cover. Your training should include these
areas:
Meet Key Personnel
Ask for help with introductions if your predecessor had a good relationship
with police sources. If not, you might be better off without introductions.
Perhaps another colleague who covered the beat in the past has sources
to recommend.
Whatever the circumstances, prepare for your first meetings with
key personnel (including, but not limited to, public information
officers) as you would prepare for an interview. Read clips about
the sources and important agency initiatives. First impressions
count. Be punctual, dress professionally and let the sources know
you take your work seriously.
Turnover can be a problem on the crime beat. Let your new sources
know who you are and how they can reach you reliably – beepers,
cells phone, home phones, etc. Distribute business cards freely,
and encourage after-hour calls. In turn, ask key commanders and
chiefs whether they would accept calls after hours on urgent matters.
Get their phone numbers.
Tour All
Facilities
Tour both public and private areas of your agency headquarters,
as well as any remote stations, precincts or offices. Tour parking
garages (where prisoners might come and go), holding pens and other
lockups, as well as booking areas. Tour training facilities and
the firing range. Tour your agency's special operations center,
if it has one.
Police Training
Request a briefing on police training, both for recruits and experienced
officers. Ask to sit in on training sessions. Your agency may have
a mentoring program for young officers or other ongoing training
initiatives on topics such as sensitivity, racial profiling or use
of alternatives to deadly force. Ask for demonstrations of weapons
and restraint devices.
Get a copy of the agency's Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).
This document is considered a public record in many jurisdictions.
The SOP likely will include such details as your agency's rules
for collecting evidence and search and seizure and use of force.
Stay alert for any SOP updates.
Shadow a Cop
This can offer insight into procedures, attitudes and the peer culture
of your agency. Most agencies offer a ride-along (or walk-along)
program, although a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court ruling limited access
to private property for tag-along journalists.
Look Beyond Sworn Personnel
Does your agency or jurisdiction have a citizens review board, citizens
training academy, auxiliary police unit, civilian patrol component
or active police watchdog or advocacy group? Get to know each of
them.
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