When police planned a pre-dawn drug bust in Arkadelphia last week, they also called Joe Phelps, a reporter with the Siftings Herald.
Phelps has spent years developing a close relationship with the police he covers. GateHouse News & Interactive asked Phelps a few questions on how to cultivate police sources while remaining objective.
Q How do you balance a close working relationship with the police while maintaining objectivity?
In any town both the police and the media have a job to do. Theirs is to protect and to serve; ours is to give our readers what they want.
If I work with the cops, they'll work with me. At the same time, however, they know that if they screw up we'll nail them to a stump. It rarely happens, as we are lucky here to have a good police department and sheriff's office here.
I hate to write an article about an officer being arrested for third-degree battery (as I did just recently), because I know them all on a friendly, first-name basis (sometimes even by nickname). But it's my job to write such stories, and I'm going to do it when and if it happens.
To sum it up, and I think Neil Young said this: you want to get close, but not too close.
Q What advice would you give a reporter just starting out on a beat on getting in good with local police?
I've been with this newspaper for four years, and I remember when I first started out that most officers were quite leery of talking about anything at all around "the newspaper man" for fear of being quoted.
Perhaps this is because the reporter before me damaged the newspaper's reputation with those agencies; I'm not certain. If you can "get in good" with one respectable officer — by building a mutual trust that the newspaper isn't out to get the Police Department and vice-versa — then you will be able to eventually "get in good" with most all of the officers based on that first officer's trust.
I think they call it networking nowadays.
Q Why do you think the police in Arkadelphia put such trust into you?
My relationship with the Arkadelphia Police Department dates back to my work as a reporter for my college newspaper. I interviewed the police chief for some silly little fluff story about crime on campus and included some great lines from the chief, who I learned that day was great for his frank, off-the-hip quotes.
When police planned a pre-dawn drug bust in Arkadelphia last week, they also called Joe Phelps, a reporter with the Siftings Herald.
Phelps has spent years developing a close relationship with the police he covers. GateHouse News & Interactive asked Phelps a few questions on how to cultivate police sources while remaining objective.
Q How do you balance a close working relationship with the police while maintaining objectivity?
In any town both the police and the media have a job to do. Theirs is to protect and to serve; ours is to give our readers what they want.
If I work with the cops, they'll work with me. At the same time, however, they know that if they screw up we'll nail them to a stump. It rarely happens, as we are lucky here to have a good police department and sheriff's office here.
I hate to write an article about an officer being arrested for third-degree battery (as I did just recently), because I know them all on a friendly, first-name basis (sometimes even by nickname). But it's my job to write such stories, and I'm going to do it when and if it happens.
To sum it up, and I think Neil Young said this: you want to get close, but not too close.
Q What advice would you give a reporter just starting out on a beat on getting in good with local police?
I've been with this newspaper for four years, and I remember when I first started out that most officers were quite leery of talking about anything at all around "the newspaper man" for fear of being quoted.
Perhaps this is because the reporter before me damaged the newspaper's reputation with those agencies; I'm not certain. If you can "get in good" with one respectable officer — by building a mutual trust that the newspaper isn't out to get the Police Department and vice-versa — then you will be able to eventually "get in good" with most all of the officers based on that first officer's trust.
I think they call it networking nowadays.
Q Why do you think the police in Arkadelphia put such trust into you?
My relationship with the Arkadelphia Police Department dates back to my work as a reporter for my college newspaper. I interviewed the police chief for some silly little fluff story about crime on campus and included some great lines from the chief, who I learned that day was great for his frank, off-the-hip quotes.
Proud of my byline, I swiftly delivered him a copy of that article, and we've had a great relationship since.
Back to your question, I would say that sometimes — for the sake of building trust — that a reporter can go off the record with an officer. What I have learned is that, armed with "off the record" information, you can later use it as ammunition to ask someone else a question you already have information on.
Q What was the most rewarding part of witnessing the raid?
The most rewarding part of witnessing the raid is knowing that the sheriff trusts me enough to keep the drug sting a secret until after it was well under way, and knowing that the numerous other officers involved trust me to withhold undercover officers' identities so that they can participate in future investigations.
They weren't bothered that the local reporter was there snapping photos while the raid was still going on so long as I agreed to keep some things out of the public's eye.
So, yeah, that and watching the sun rise while a bunch of druggies cursed at me for taking their photos.
It's comforting knowing that they'll forever remember my face and vehicle, even when they're released on parole.
