I always like to keep my eyes and ears open around town, to see how people read the Times, and to hear what stories people are talking about.
This week, that was especially interesting, as people checked out Page 1 stories about the tax-increment financing agreement for Gloucester Crossing, changes at the top at Cruiseport Gloucester, the proposed charter school and many others. As always, however, I recognized that some of the most discussed stories — both on the street, and through the comments on gloucestertimes.com — weren't the major Page 1 stories about which we received letters and crafted editorials. They were the listings within the daily police reports that appear inside the paper and online from Gloucester and our surrounding Cape Ann towns.
Whether it's a serious spate of drug charges, lighter reports tracking an Essex fox, or an off-the-wall incident — like the vandalism report of someone throwing a barbecued pork rib through a window in Gloucester the other night — police reports always spark a lot of interest. They also spark a lot of phone calls, with people facing reported charges denying the allegations included in the reports, or raising other concerns. So you may well ask, why does your community's newspaper print them? Why would any newspaper do that?
But the answer is an easy one, and it's not because the arrest reports fuel local gossip, and some readers tend to find them, well, entertaining.
Police and court reports tell a lot, not only about a community, but about specific streets and neighborhoods.
In recent months, for example, police reports in Gloucester have seemingly cast a spotlight on some increasing drug issues. Indeed, one of my favorite stories of the last few months began with a basic police report of a drug arrest, and included the fact that several neighbors stood outside a house and cheered police who had made the arrest. That not only showed that police and neighbors recognized the house had been used for drug activity, but that residents and police were working together to try to eradicate the problem.
Other aspects of our daily police reports can serve as warnings. I know if there was ever a rash of break-ins — whether to homes or cars — in my neighborhood, I'd want to know about it, so I could take precautions. Also, some residents may read of an incident, a fire, or the description of a suspect in a reported crime, and realize they may have seen something or have other information helpful to police.
Those who often don't recognize the value of reading police and fire reports, of course, are those who are charged with wrongdoing. I'll often get calls from someone who will insist that "it just didn't happen" the way we reported it, and that he or she is absolutely innocent. That, of course, is an argument best made before a judge, not a newspaper editor. All of our police reports are taken from the logs and arrest reports of our Cape Ann police departments, and, in some cases, from our reporters' interviews with officers and officials. Each day, Rockport reporter Jonathan L'Ecuyer stops at that town's police station to go over the logs and reports, Amanda Flitter does the same in Manchester and Essex, and — depending on the day — Patrick Anderson, Jonathan or Nick Curcuru go over the logs, arrest reports and background information at the Gloucester Police Department, culling the most recent incident and arrest reports.
We'll sometimes get calls from people who are charged by police who ask whether their names can be kept out of the paper, and the answer each time is the same: "No." All arrests and charges are public information, though police are allowed to withhold the names of those age of 16 or younger, as long as the person is not charged as an adult. If we, as a community newspaper, deliberately withhold public information, then you could argue that we're not doing our job in keeping you up on the news of your community. Also, from a very practical standpoint, there's no fair way to include a charge filed against one person and not against another.
We do not generally print the names and addresses of victims, even when they're included in police reports. That can be a matter of public safety; if someone, for example, is robbed on the street of a large amount of money, the last thing we'd want is to let other criminals know is that so-and-so of such-and-such address was robbed of $1,000 cash, for example.
But by and large, as your community newspaper, we think it's important to let you know what's happening in your towns, in your neighborhoods, on your streets and even on your blocks. That includes reports of police activity and other matters of public safety — even if a broken window is caused by a flying pork rib.
As always, let me know what you think.
Questions? Comments? Is there a topic you'd like to see addressed in a future column? You can contact Times Editor Ray Lamont at rlamont@gloucestertimes.com.
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