Police chief’s attempt at transparency is welcome

ACHTUNG: This is not a “fair and balanced” story. It is an editorial by the editor.

New Wayland Police Chief Mark Garnsey deserved a better result after his attempt to do the right thing during a big police operation on Maple Street last Monday.

Garnsey put out a very public statement on the Wayland PD web page to alert local citizens to avoid driving in the area between Vine Street and Railroad Steet because of a heavy police presence doing an investigation.

You might say it was a public service message.

However, because of it, WOOD-Channel 8 did some further investigating, found out who lives in the house being searched and did its proud and classic routine of reporter knocks on door of suspect.

24-Hour News 8 the day after came up with a huge score and published the name, a video and photos of the “person of interest” in the case.

The cat was out of the bag. The horse was out of the barn. So I published the information as well.

Garnsey was not pleased with the identification of a person of interest because it could taint the investigation, arrest, prosecution and trial. It can be a cop’s nightmare and perhaps the biggest reason why police are so wary of the press.

The statement on the web page was as follows:

“Reference news team in the area… You can almost count on this to happen. There sometimes is no way around it. We put out the notice to stay clear because we care about our citizens. And, we know that the press will eventually find out anyway. So, we do press releases as well, and release as much (information) as we should, given the timeline we are in during the investigation.

“Regardless, there will usually be a news team that is sent out by their producer to make sure they get a better story than the other network. “So, if a news team knocks on your door you have every right to not answer, tell them you’re not interested in speaking about it, you’re just glad the problem was addressed. You can even ask them why they’re possibly compromising the investigation…”

While I understand the chief’s frustration, the biggest reason why 24 Hour News 8 and its ilk does this sort of thing is that the public wants it. Getting the scoop for this type of story is what the public demands and in a capitalist society making money (through marketing and advertising) is the reason for having a TV news service.

In a nutshell, Channel 8 and others like it are giving their customers what they want. And in a market-driven economy, being a nice guy or holding to principles of fairness is a recipe for being a loser.

Garnsey already has been a fresh breeze for me and this city. He thus far has been open and transparent about his department in a time I’ve become accustomed to silence and an uncooperative attitude.

To be sure, he is releasing only information he’s willing to let us to see, but that is true as well for all other businesses and their CEOs and even public officials, who don’t mind telling little white lies to save their institutions or not cause embarrassment.

I hope this new chief doesn’t change his motivation to engage in glastnost and transparency.