On the back page of the paper is a brief, unattributed story entitled, “Whitewater police patrol cars are sporting two new additions.”
On Media Relations. There’s a false theory that says that if you repeat the same information enough times, people will believe what you’ve said, regardless of how erroneous it might be.
It’s nonsense. It just gives more opportunity to (1) rebut the story, and (2) show that those flacking the story are rigid and incapable of acknowledging error.
There’s one other mistake – these stories told in the Register gain no new ground. Some die-hard Register subscribers probably think that Christ Himself was baptized in waters of Cravath, before preaching against the supposed sinfulness of student renters and immigrants.
To the author of “Whitewater police patrol cars are sporting two new additions” – you already had this audience, for goodness’ sake. If you think you need to bolster the spirits of this group, then you have nowhere left to turn.
“We need to get our story out” only works if the story’s not so easily dismissed. The narrow team that considers how to present the city’s story only makes things worse for itself. Phrases like ‘civil discourse,’ ‘fairly innocuous,’ or ‘we’re not doing our jobs if we’re not criticized’ are futile, and counter-productive.
They’re one step removed from the trite sports phrases of Bull Durham: ‘one day at a time,’ ‘just happy to be part of the club,’ etc.
This approach shows rigidity, and appears increasingly foolish the farther one goes from a small circle of would-be town squires.
The whole group’s a minority in town, and nothing outside of it. A story like this looks like a parody, like something from the Onion, to those not so ignorant that they confuse their friends with society itself.
These subscribers are not a persuadable audience; one can, however, easily point out the Register‘s reactionary, statist views to a wider, more reasonable audience.
Keep the Register – declining year-over-year; bloggers will happily take the Web.
On Accreditation. Part of the story is about the accreditation of the Whitewater Police Department. The Register‘s press release story on patrol cars is like that – how many times can one paper hawk the same shoddy goods?
So much leadership effort for an accreditation, and facing rebuttals to it, leaves the author of this article with nothing but repetition.
(Not even full repetition, but the abandonment of the most ludicrous contention – that completing a checklist of hundreds of standards -220, 200, 300, whatever – is a meaningful accomplishment.)
On accreditation, see my assessment, made before, but just as true now:
I have previously posted showing how accreditation is an empty honor. See, for example, “Whitewater Police Department Re-Accreditation”.
In that post, I noted that
(1) accreditation effort is self-selected,
(2) measuring hundreds of checklist items is trivial,
(3) accreditation evaluators are often favorable representatives of nearby departments,
(4) accreditation ignores sensible standards that serious, unaffiliated institutions and organizations have proposed that directly concern the most important matters in policing.
On Foggy-Headed Notions of Professionalism. Here’s the final paragraph of the story:
“It is believed that the department’s black and white squad cards [sic] with new light bars and accreditation decals combine to project a very positive and professional imagine for the department.”
These are men and women who talk about image, etc., in a community that needs what’s inside, not what’s outside. What Augustine’s paraphrased as saying about the Ancients is true about this notion of professionalism: these supposed virtues are merely resplendent vices.
Professionalism is conduct, above appearance. No uniform allowance, shiny paper decals, or plastic LED lights atop a car will make a man or woman more professional for this community.
This is a child’s notion of being a professional: carrying a stethoscope does not make one a doctor. Where is the patrol officer’s celebration – true, genuine, unforced – of accreditation? There’s no picture like that.
Neither car, nor decal, nor lights are sworn to uphold anything. People alone make the true difference – good or bad.