In June 2021, the Los Angeles Police received a tip about a man selling illegal fireworks out of an alley in South Los Angeles. When police arrived, they found dozens upon dozens of boxes of fireworks and explosives, including some that appeared homemade. The police worried the explosives were too dangerous to haul away so they decided to detonate them in what they called a “total containment vessel.”
What happened next? An explosion that damaged 35 properties and injured 17 people. Dozens reportedly were displaced from their homes and still haven’t moved back. It will end up costing taxpayers millions of dollars.
More than two years later, tensions remained high because of a lack of transparency — none of the responsible officers had been publicly named and whatever punishment they did (or did not) receive was also unknown.
But the Los Angeles Times and reporters Brittny Mejia, Libor Jany and Richard Winton were able to figure out which officers were involved. They wrote, “… through investigative records, court documents and interviews, the Times was able to determine their names and how the LAPD dealt with some of the officers involved. The Times corroborated the identity of each bomb tech with at least two sources close to the department.”
However, before the story was published, the reporters did what any responsible journalist would do: They sought comment. Two of the reporters — Jany and Mejia — went to the home of one of the officers to seek comment for the article that would, for the first time, publicly name her as one of the LAPD bomb squad technicians on site that day.
That officer, Sgt. Stefanie Alcocer, asked the reporters to leave her property and, according to the reporters, they did.
But now, the LAPD and police Chief Michel Moore are accusing the LAPD of crossing an ethical line. They have even complained to Times executive editor Kevin Merida. They sent an email to the Times saying, “Random people knocking on our doors, following us, or stalking us until we get home is wrong.”
The Times’ Kevin Rector wrote, “The reporters were also accused of ‘stalking’ officers by the city’s police union, which sent an inaccurate account of (the) interaction to its entire membership (last week.).”
The LAPD has often had run-ins with the media and has a tense relationship with local journalists. But complaining about reporters doing their job when they were seeking fairness in their stories is a new low for the LAPD. In addition, the Times is doing what it is supposed to do: hold elected and local officials accountable.
Rector wrote, “According to 1st Amendment scholars and media experts, the outrage over Jany and Mejia’s reporting also shows an alarming misunderstanding of the rights and responsibilities of journalists among top police officials and union bosses in one of the nation’s largest cities.”
Joe Saltzman, a USC journalism professor, told the Times that the police’s objections were “ludicrous,” adding, “Getting all sides of the story is what journalists do, and anyone who tries to stop that is a knowing or unknowing threat to the freedom of information and the public’s right to know.”
When unable to otherwise get a comment, knocking on doors is a staple of good journalism and, actually, can benefit the person behind that door.
As Rector noted, “To ensure fairness and accuracy, reporters are trained to seek out comment from those they are writing about, particularly if they are reporting alleged misconduct. Sometimes the subjects of stories provide additional information that clears up discrepancies or undermines the claims of others. Sometimes those accused of wrongdoing want to express personal remorse, regret or compassion, or reveal things that a police or union spokesperson would prevent them from sharing.”
Rector’s story goes into great detail about the exchange between the reporters and the officer, as well as more explanation about how journalists do their job.
That job is to report to the public what is going on in their communities and allow those accused of wrongdoing a chance to respond.
For the record, the LAPD put out a statement over the weekend, saying it was not permitted, by law, to release information about who was involved in the explosion and their punishment. However, the Times has reported there is an exception to this when there are injuries involved.
