Broadcast of dying officer’s call didn’t breach privacy, council says

Broadcasting the distress call of a dying police officer as he lay trapped under a minivan was not a breach of privacy, but required a warning to viewers, the country’s private broadcasting watchdog has found. York Regional Police Const. Garrett Styles died after being dragged and then pinned under an overturned minivan on a rural highway last June. The van’s 15-year-old driver was later charged with first-degree murder. Police Chief Eric Jolliffe had complained to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council about Styles’ call for help being broadcast on a number of television stations, including Global Toronto, CTV Toronto and Citytv. In a ruling issued Wednesday, the council released a two-pronged decision. “The CBSC concluded that the stations did not violate the privacy of the police officer whose voice was heard in the transmissions, but that the stations were required to warn viewers in advance of the disturbing nature of the broadcasts,” the council said a statement. Two broadcasters, Citytv and CTV, failed to warn viewers about the call’s contents and were found in breach of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Violence Code.

York police said they were disappointed by the council’s decision.

“We do not feel that the broadcasting of his last moments showed appropriate compassion to Const. Styles and his family as victims of crime,” Deputy Chief of Police Thomas Carrique said in a statement. “We believe the broadcasting of Const. Styles’ dying words did violate the RTDNA Code of Journalist Ethics and that the broadcasters should have paraphrased his last words.”

Several media outlets, including The Canadian Press, published or broadcast parts of Styles’ distress call. In it, the 32-year-old married father of two pleaded for someone to get the overturned minivan off him and expressed concern for the occupants, while the dispatcher urged him to keep talking.

The stations argued Styles’ call was accessible on public airwaves and later on the Internet. They also said their reports highlighted the officer’s professionalism and concern for others. CTV additionally pointed out that it read a transcript of the call on-air rather than broadcasting the actual audio.