We were in our daily news budget meeting Thursday when we were told Panama City police were holding a press conference about the recent rash of shootings which, at that point, had claimed four lives in the last four weeks or so.
I jokingly asked, “Do they realize reporters ask questions at those things?” Getting information, or a call returned, from the Panama City Police Department about the recent shootings had been largely unsuccessful to that point.
When the reporter returned we were full of questions. Are there suspects in the unsolved shooting? Could those suspects still be here? What is going on? Is this gang related? Drug related? Is it random or connected? Should we be afraid? Are they increasing patrols and visibility in the affected areas?
When Chris Olwell told us it had been a short press conference with reporters being told ahead of time they would be limited to one question each, I thought he was joking. He wasn’t.
As reported in Friday’s News Herald, Panama City Police Chief Scott Ervin, who called the press conference, read a brief statement. The reporters asked their allotted question and six minutes after it started, it was over.
Ervin partially explained, saying he was pressed for time and had training to attend, though it should be noted he set this up and we had been trying to get questions answered for a couple of weeks.
What came out of the press conference, sparked by a 4:20 a.m. shooting that morning when 17-year-old Samuel McGriff was found shot in the gut at Macedonia Garden Apartments on 17th Street, amounted to this:
l None of the shootings were random and arrests had been made in all cases but one.
l The community should continue to give police information, and if you have information and don’t share it with the police “you condone the acts of violence that are taking place.”
l And, as to the 17-year-old shot at 4:30 a.m. Thursday after leaving a nightclub, “Where are the parents? Clearly someone has failed this child.”
Given the reluctance of Panama City police to answer questions, return calls or address public concerns about these shootings up to that point, one could argue it is the police department that was failing its community.
On Friday, McGriff died, and Ervin did return a reporter’s call. Whether that was spurred by the article in Friday’s paper detailing the one-question press conference, we don’t know.
Regardless, there remains the question of why police haven’t been more forthcoming about a series of shootings that have left five people dead.
Make no mistake, the community is alarmed by the shootings and deaths that are spilling out of nightclubs onto street corners and convenience store parking lots. You can see it on Facebook or hear it at breakfast.
When uncertainty abounds, people expect local law enforcement to be the source of reassurance. Even when the relationship between The News Herald and the Bay County Sheriff’s Office isn’t at its best, one thing we can count on is access to information when crimes affecting the people they police are taking place.
As one commenter said on a Facebook comment underneath our story on the press conference: “I was in law enforcement for 31 years, and for four of those years I was a full-time spokesman. Handling a spate of incidents in this manner can be used in the textbook: ‘How NOT to be an Effective PIO.’
The chief could’ve taken the opportunity to reassure the public, to talk about the extra officers put into the affected areas (if that’s the case), to talk about the hours of overtime going into these cases (if that’s the case), to talk about how they’re reaching out to the community in person to offer reassurance (if that’s the case), to let people know this isn’t the “new normal.”
When police are mum, well, there’s a reason for that saying that nature abhors a vacuum. Rumors abound, spurring fears that may or may not be warranted. People wonder if police truly care.
We think they do and hope that Friday’s willingness to answer questions is more telling of things to come than the two weeks of reluctance that preceded it.