[Scan-DC] Scanner Tweeting

[Alan Henney]

Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon)

March 14, 2014 Friday

The do's and don'ts of live-tweeting from the police scanner

BYLINE: By, Laura Fosmire

SECTION: UPDATE

LENGTH: 910 words

My fellow breaking news reporter, Joce DeWitt, has written previously about the local folks who enjoy live-tweeting the police scanner in their free time.

It's easy to see the appeal. It's thrilling to help disseminate news, especially adrenaline-packed breaking news like fires and car crashes. I should know, I do it all the time.

But as exciting as it is to follow developing stories in real time, live-tweeting what you hear on the scanner can quickly turn nightmarish. Recall the Vancouver woman who unknowingly live-tweeted a car crash in which her own husband was killed. Recall the frantic pleas by Boston Police as hundreds broadcast their exact positions in the manhunt following the bombings. 

Here to help sort through the do's and don'ts of live-tweeting the police scanner are some experts on the subject.

DO: Keep in mind this is preliminary information.

A lot of information being broadcast over the scanner is being confirmed by officials as it's happening, so it's important to know nothing is set in stone. You'll notice that in our reporting, we're careful to attribute information to radio traffic, and then work to confirm with a police source when verification is available.

And sometimes, information that callers provide to dispatchers - who then relay that information via the scanner - is different than what police actually encounter when they arrive on the scene.

The woman behind the @WashCoScanner account tweets scanner activity throughout northwest Oregon. She said each user has a unique style of tweeting and self-imposed guidelines they follow when deciding what to tweet.

"One thing I do feel is important is to specify in your Twitter profile that scanner tweets are unconfirmed," she said in an email. "Not everybody does it, but in my opinion, this can save you a headache later."

Sgt. Chris Baldridge with the Marion County Sheriff's Office agreed.

"The biggest thing I would say is to slow down and verify the information you're putting out," he said. "It may sound very serious and turn out to not be serious. If you're going to be broadcasting these, make sure you know that what you're hearing and interpreting into a tweet is accurate. We don't want to cause panic."

@WashCoScanner said this is something she regularly considers as she's live-tweeting events.

"I guess I cannot stress enough that what you hear on the scanner is not the full story or assessment of the situation, as you are hearing limited information," she said. "It's better to listen to a call for a bit to determine if you should even tweet it or not, rather than trying to be the first one to tweet."

DON'T: Broadcast exact police movements in a sensitive situation.

Boston is a major example of where this practice can quickly go wrong. Law enforcement use radio traffic to position themselves in potentially dangerous situations, such as serving a warrant on a known drug house or attempting to capture a subject who is armed. By tweeting out exactly where police are and when, enthusiasts may be unwittingly putting their officers in harm's way.

Twitterer @TMundal is one of the most visible of the Salem-area scanner aficionados. He said he learned after a while to be more cautious about what information he was putting out there.

"I try to be pretty non-specific on any info while it's happening," he said in an email. "No hard addresses, just general areas. I used to tweet almost anything I heard, and I even provided the feed to RadioReference.com for the Salem Police.

"But after some time," he continued, "And speaking to police officers about it, I removed the feed. Those men and women are put in life and death situations, and I didn't feel right about handing everyone with a smart phone the ability to listen in on what they were doing."

Baldridge said deputies with the Sheriff's Office will avoid saying specific things over the radio for this exact reason.

DO: Be sensitive to potential victims.

File this one under "common courtesy." It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of a fatal traffic crash, but think about the families of those who were killed before you push the send button on that tweet.

Police are sensitive of this issue, too. It's standard procedure that they will wait to identify victims until they can notify family members, who might prefer to hear it from an official source before seeing it on Twitter.

DON'T: Encourage people to flock to the scene or head out there yourself.

This may sound hypocritical coming from me - as a breaking news reporter, I hear things on the scanner and frequently go chasing after them. But there's something to be said for common sense, and Salem Police are uneasy about too many bystanders getting involved in developing crime scenes.

"We ask people that, if they hear something on the scanner, don't respond to the scene, especially if it's an emergency," said Lt. Dave Okada with Salem Police. "We prefer to have fewer people out there in the way and blocking responders."

DO: Feel free to talk with or alert your friendly neighborhood reporters.

We're people, too! And while Joce and I both listen carefully to the scanner and attempt to stay on top of as much breaking news as we can, we don't catch everything. Our scanner live-tweeters can be incredibly helpful in tipping us off when breaking news is happening in case we miss it. We're both on Twitter - give us a follow!

lfosmire at StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6709 or on Twitter @fosmirel. Joce DeWitt is on Twitter @joce_dewitt.