Police Information

The Media In Serious Crime

Wed, September 19, 2001

Source: Andy Feist

The Effective Use Of The Media In Serious Crime Investigations Policing & Reducing Crime Briefing Note

Media handling in serious crime investigations is a complex issue. On the one hand, the media can be an important mechanism for generating valuable information from the general public. On the other hand, dealing with the media can take up valuable time and resources during the critical early stages of an investigation. Consequently, media handling has been acknowledged as a critical skill of the Senior Investigating Officer (SIO). 

The report summarises the findings of interviews with SIOs and media liaison officers on media handling issues in sixteen investigations of murder and sexual assault. It examines general issues around the management of media interest in serious crime investigations; the disclosure and acquisition of information via the media; general relations with the press, victims, victims’ relatives and communities; and personnel issues in media handling. 

Managing media interest 

Media interest in serious crimes In general, investigations into serious crime such as murder and rape attract a substantial amount of press interest, particularly in the first few days of an enquiry. Thereafter, interest will tend to diminish although some particularly newsworthy offences will sustain national media interest for some time. The factors that determine the level of press interest will vary from case to case and depend partly upon the coverage of other news events. For the cases examined, the age and background of the victim and location of the offence were most frequently perceived as influencing the level of media coverage. Not all offences, however, attract the desired level of press interest, and in these cases the challenge for any strategy is to gain and enhance media coverage. 

The demands on the investigation Where press interest is high, one of the main problems arising from media handling in serious crime investigations is the demands placed on the resources of the investigative team. Most SIOs estimated that they spent between 20 and 40 per cent of their time dealing with the media in the first two days of an enquiry. 

The disclosure and acquisition of information via the media 

The disclosure of information Investigations have to effectively resolve tensions around the hold-back or disclosure of information about the offence. The investigative team’s judgement about whether or not to disclose a piece of information should be influenced by a mature assessment of the likely consequences of that decision. In certain instances, providing more detailed information to the general public can increase the likelihood of generating additional valuable information. 

The timing of disclosed information Interviewees placed particular importance on when initial contact is made with the press, and the timing of subsequent press releases and press conferences. Getting information out allowed the investigation to take the lead in press handling at an early stage, while allowing the rest of the investigation to progress. Furthermore, it was argued that early initial communication with the press limits the degree to which they formulate their own accounts of what happened and begin their own ‘investigations’. 

The objectives of media appeals Finding ‘unknowing witnesses’ was the most frequently stated objective for press appeals. Three cases attempted to use the media to achieve more specific investigative objectives, such as putting pressure on an offender to admit the offence. 

Dealing with the generation of information Appeals can generate substantial amounts of information from the general public. Two main issues were raised regarding the practical consequences of public appeals. First, the need to deal with the immediate response to an appeal by arranging sufficient phone lines and briefed operators. Secondly, the impact on the investigation of having to respond to a potentially large number of new messages entering the system. 

The extent to which the public will contribute new information in the wake of an appeal is likely to depend on four key factors: 

• The size of the potential population who might be able to contribute information;
• The extent to which the potential population can be targeted by particular media;
• How the disclosed information can be packaged to appeal to the public to come forward; and,
• The degree to which the information required can be made specific.
• The ability of the investigation to assess the quality of incoming information will depend on the quality of information residing in the enquiry at the time of the appeal. 

Background 

General relations with the press, victims, victims’ relatives and communities

An important part of effective press handling relies on understanding the media context in which any investigation will be conducted. Respondents identified several areas that influence the context within which a serious crime investigation is reported and which can affect reporting style and the dialogue with the press. These included: 

• General relations between the local/regional press and the police service;
• The variation in relations with different media outlets in the same force area;
• The nature of media boundaries and catchments;
• Any general themes or campaigns adopted by local media; and,
• The experience of crime reporters covering major investigations and their understanding of the legal process. 

Media portrayal of serious crime investigations Although investigators can determine the content and timing of a press release, they are not in a position to determine how that information is portrayed by the media. This was particularly important in terms of the way in which victims or communities were described in the media. The way this information was presented in the press could influence the willingness, for instance, of the victim’s family or the general public to co-operate with the enquiry. 

Improving media relations SIOs specifically highlighted the importance of explaining to the media the reasons why they could not furnish particular information about an enquiry, or why some investigative tasks took so long. While explaining why operationally sensitive material had to be held back, it was important to provide as much ‘non-sensitive’ information about the crime and the investigation as possible to the press. The aim was to ‘over-provide’ information for reporters to discourage ‘journalist investigations’. 

Legal issues When an investigation goes into a post-charge phase, the due legal process comes into force. In several cases, the activities of some parts of the press led to developments that

had the potential to jeopardise proceedings. Several of the cases examined had encountered particular problems over the press gaining access to, and in one case publishing, pictures of a

suspect prior to charge or the commencement of the trial. 

Personnel issues 

The role of the media liaison officer A central feature of the handling of the press in serious crime investigations is the bringing together of the SIO and the force media liaison officer in the early stages of an enquiry. This was often regarded as a key working relationship at one of the most difficult times of an investigation. Eleven of the sixteen media liaison officers were civilians and all but one of these had worked as journalists prior to joining the police.  

Media liaison officers and the management team The presence of a press liaison officer on the investigative team was not universal, even in the initial stages of an investigation. Of the sixteen investigations, ten had a media liaison officer involved as a member of the management team at least in the initial stages of the investigation. Several forces had made it standard practice that media liaison officers would be part of the management team of all major enquiries. 

SIO training and ability in media handling The majority of SIOs interviewed had received some training in media presentation skills, but relatively little training in how to develop effective media strategies. In spite of the general lack of formal training in this area, several experienced officers had developed expert skills in relation to media handling. Their abilities appeared to reflect a combination of personal charisma, a wide range of experience and a close working relationship with individuals and organisations in the media. The most frequently observed skill was the ability to anticipate the consequences of the media interpretation of a crime, the investigation and any decisions associated with media handling. 

Recommendations 

The report provides the following recommendations: 

• Force media liaison officers should be formally members of management teams within serious crime investigations, at least for the initial phase of the investigation when press interest is likely to be at its height. 
• While experience will always play an important part in the development of SIO media skills, practical training for SIOs in designing effective media strategies should be considered. This might be achieved through exposing investigators to a range of media handling scenarios/exercises, and undertaking joint exercises with media liaison officers. Consideration should also be given to introducing investigators to the principles of media handling in criminal investigations at an earlier stage in their careers. 
• There should be more effort to improve communications between press/media officers and CID. This might be through a combination of workshops and short secondments of junior officers into media offices.  
• The media impact on victims’ relatives should be monitored and addressed as part of on-going family liaison procedures. Family Liaison Officers should provide relatives with copies of all forma press statements at the earliest opportunity. 
• The shared responsibility for media matters on major crime by ACPO Media Advisory Group and ACPO Crime has in the past led to differing approaches in the handling of media within major crime investigations. While forces will want to set their own policy in the light of ACPO guidance, a single set of all embracing guidelines in this area would assist operational officers. 
• At present there appears to be extreme levels of under-reporting to the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) of inappropriate press activity in relation to major crime enquiries. Forces should be more active in drawing this kind of behaviour to the attention of the PCC. 
• Further research should be undertaken in three areas: assessing the effectiveness of different media for reaching particular types of public; exploring how recent developments in the wider media environment may impinge police handling of major crime; and to establish more clearly the core competencies of police media liaison officers.