Police right to use the media to catch cold-blooded murderers

Re: Police shouldn’t deceive the news media — even to catch a killer, July 20 So Carleton University professor and former Citizen reporter Randy Boswell feels that the actions of the Ottawa police investigators who arrested and established sufficient evidence to convict two people for the vicious and coldblooded murder of a totally innocent and unsuspecting mother were ethically suspect because they manipulated the media by releasing news that was not factual, in an effort to further their investigation.

He goes on to say that such action is “certain to erode trust in two important community institutions, the police force that perpetrated the hoax and the news media taken in by the ruse.”

Later in his article, he goes on to state that journalists are “rightly resistant to any action in which they might be perceived as serving deliberately as agents of state authority.”

I’m not sure where he finds the authority for two such strongly stated certainties; during my own career spanning 32 years in the Ottawa Police Service I can think of many occasions when valuable assistance was given by members of the press corps to aid in criminal investigations.

He concludes his story by asking how can “we” (I’m not sure whether this refers to journalists or Carleton U professors) be assured that such white lies would only be concocted by police in the most exceptional circumstances. Is he condoning the practice here or is he saying that these were not exceptional circumstances? I’m not sure. He then appears to compare this action to the obviously devious and corrupt practices of a few officers who issued false traffic warnings, actions which were uncovered and investigated by the Ottawa Police Service and which are being addressed in disciplinary proceedings against the officers involved. Hardly a valid comparison!

I say to the investigators who brought this matter to a successful conclusion, “Keep up the excellent work, I am proud of you.” Brian Skinner, Superintendent (Retired), Ottawa Police Service, 1964-1996. Nepean