The Editor:
I am not one to express my concerns in such a public setting, but after reading your article about Councillor Nadine Nakagawa's concerns about the frequency and content of the NWPD media releases, I felt compelled to write.
To me, a hallmark of a well-run police service is their transparency to the greater community. Many elected officials, including Coun. Nakagawa, have spoken to the importance of this, so it takes me by surprise that she would be advocating for censoring of these media releases.
I read through many of these media write-ups myself, and I have found them to be informative, providing clear details of particular incidents of note. These include general information releases about arrests and what charges where applied, requests for assistance in locating missing persons, and appeals for witnesses.
Such communications are vital for us to be aware of the safety of the community and to hold the police department accountable, and any attempt to censor that would not be taking politics out of policing, but quite the opposite.
If Coun. Nakagawa is concerned about the content and frequency of these media releases regarding violent crime, perhaps she should focus her efforts on the underlying issues, and not sweep the issues under the rug by advocating the police services restrict the information provided by trained public relations staff to the public.
T. Goodspeed
