Contrary to the popular belief that these are “slow news times,” by now you probably know that North Miami Beach had its first murder of the year early this morning. You also know that you didn’t hear it from the media. Unless, of course, you consider the blogosphere as media, in which case I appreciate the acknowledgement. But I was actually referring to the so-called real media, such as newspapers and television.
You might also remember that last August we had a home invasion/armed robbery right here in my ‘hood, which to my knowledge has still gone unreported by the local media, including Channel “If It Bleeds, It Leads” 7 and the Titanic known as the Miami Herald (see Random Pixels for details).
What you are about to witness is another one of those oh-crap-there-she-goes-again moments where I compare NMB unfavorably (but not unfairly) to our southern neighbor North Miami, where the Police Department’s Public Information Officer actually doles out Public Information to the press. Imagine that?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, any time you turn on the local news to see a major story about North Miami, you’ll see Major Neal Cuevas in front of the camera. The dude not only never sleeps, but he is the media’s and his Chief’s go-to guy for anything and everything that’s newsworthy in the City of North Miami.
Here in North Miami Beach we have, um, well … VotersOpinion? Seriously?
When I got the tip this afternoon about the early morning murder, which I now know started at a party in a private home and ended with a shootout in the street, leaving one dead and a black male on the loose, I first went to all the local news websites to see if there was a breaking story. Nothing there.
I then also checked the North Miami Beach Police Department’s Twitter page. Also nada! In fact, the most recent Tweet by the NMBPD was on December 22, 2012:
To which I responded with:
Then Pattypan piped in:
To which I responded:
To the uninitiated, that’s how Twitter works.
Aside from social media, the powers that be at the North Miami Beach Police Department have to understand that they are not doing the public any favors by keeping radio silence about crime in our city. Under former Chief Larry Gomer’s administration, the news about the armed robbery in my ‘hood was kept under wraps. It seems that our new Chief J. Scott Dennis is also of the opinion that the reporting of crime is on a need to know basis.
Helloooooo! The residents of North Miami Beach need to know if there’s an armed robber or murderer on the loose. DUH!
As Major Cuevas told me, the more progressive way to run a public information office is to get the news out there as soon as possible. The number one reason to do so is a matter of public safety. If we are alerted to a crime, especially one involving a firearm, we can take steps to protect ourselves and our families.
Involving the media is also an excellent investigative tool in solving crimes. Just last month, for example, a second suspect in the Motel 7 murder (as well as possibly other crimes) was caught because the North Miami Police Department was proactive in releasing a surveillance video, which encouraged a viewer to come forward with a viable tip. That tip paid off and Terry Nealy was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. If the NMPD had kept that video from the media, Nealy might still be out there and the bodies still piling up.
As North Miami officials are already aware, a good Public Information Officer makes good sense, not to mention good public relations. Major Cuevas has developed an excellent working relationship with reporters who trust and respect him immensely. Rarely do they have to put a “spin” on any news out of North Miami because when they ask even the toughest questions of Major Cuevas, they get the truth. They get it first. And they get it right the first time.
North Miami Beach would do well to follow North Miami’s example and hire someone who can do the job the way it’s supposed to be done. (Um, no, Major Cuevas is not available.)
I have no idea what the North Miami Beach Police Department’s protocol is regarding media releases and relations, but here’s a news flash:
Once again, I have to give kudos to North Miami at the expense of NMB. Once again, my peeps will be pissed off at me for telling it like it is. And once again, I’ll have to go look for that flying rat’s ass.
I’m sure it’s around here somewhere.
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
I gotta tell you, excellent piece. That silence is the culture in this city. Everything that happens around here is “hush-hush”. I remember when Larry was Chief, city admin, mayor and council would not invite him to executive city meetings cause they would think he could possibly leak “sensitive” information to his troops. It’s ridiculous. But in reality, subordinates often take the same attitudes of their superiors and it’s like that saying, shit rolls down hill. This “hush-hush” mentality really needs to change around here. I can tell you that in 2013, we had more shootings in a one year period than we’ve probably ever had in my 18 yr career here. It’s crazy!!
The statistics don’t lie. Violent crimes are up all over. Spinning or hiding the truth doesn’t change that fact.
At some point, the lack of personnel will render any organization useless, and that is exactly what is happening here. When the mayor and council weren’t able to flat-out privatize the sanitation department, they decided to change strategies and slowly kill it by starvation. And don’t think this is just sanitation, soon some council person will conveniently bring up the fact that the PD is “ineffective given our needs” and suggest his or her constituents would be safer under county police protection. With the exception of the HR department, the oxygen supply to every department has been cut, and it is only a matter of time before they are all farmed out. Don’t be fooled by the new manager, she was hired by the mayor and she will do the mayor’s bidding.
Well written article and dead on accurate. The NMBPD takes pride in announcing Open House or Free turkey give away, but to actually inform the very residents that are surrounded by the chaos? Not a top priority. PIO Carney handles the one side (feel good) and I believe a Major Katerman is supposed to handle the crime (not feel good) side of the reporting. News crews don’t even respond anymore because they know they aren’t going to get a statement worth running from the Major. Most of the time its an independent camera man that shows up to the scenes.
I believe the problem lies with the city and/or the PD for not wanting to publicize crimes in NMB for the purpose of either downplaying the statistics or perhaps not wanting to alarm the residents. Either way, this is a bad policy. As you can see by what happened in North Miami, getting the information out to the public can be critical to solving crimes. They seriously need to get on the ball!
You are right on your analysis but also wrong. While there might be shortcomings in the efforts of the NMBPD, ultimately it’s up to the media to decide to cover the story. The media is not made aware of a murder by a media advisory. News producers have police scanners where they listen to what calls officers are being sent to and it is the media who decides whether they cover it or not. No city ever promotes its own bad news unless it needs the media’s support in an investigation which you very well pointed out.
Thanks for mentioning that. I was wondering whether or not the producers still have scanners because it doesn’t seem that the media arrives at crime scenes in NMB, yet they crawl all over themselves for stories in North Miami, as well as other cities. I still think at least part of the problem is that NMB does not play well with the media. Rosh Lowe from Channel 7 told me he called the PD today three times about this murder and got no response. If our city continues to treat reporters so disrespectfully, can you blame them for not caring about covering our crimes? That is just wrong!
For reasons of disclosure and public safety, the NMBPD has a duty to release information to the public about murders and shootings. If 24 hours after a murder there is a total blackout of information and not a single news outlet has a run a single news story on a murder in our city…then it is the absolute duty and responsibility of the PD to see to it that the public is made aware. A lie of omission is still a lie.
To say it is the sole duty of the media to seek out information about murders is a lie aimed at making excuses for someone in the PD or city hall. Period.