Heroic Action Ignored

Frequently, the news media--both print and electronic--gets accused of biased reporting when it comes to the police and their actions. I have often heard that they are too eager to overemphasize the negative while down-playing the positive things which the officers do during their daily tasks.

On Nov. 19, a fire broke out in an old four-story building in the Logan Heights District of San Diego. The fire was first discovered by a patrol officer. That same patrol officer then entered the burning building and systematically checked all four floors of the building. He helped evacuate a large number of people, including a man who was in a smoke-filled room and a second resident who had taken refuge by standing in a running shower.

A story about an officer risking his life to rescue fire victims would certainly seem worthy of note. After all, if that same officer had so much as slightly injured a combative suspect, the story would have been played up for all its supposed worth.

The story was in Page 4 of the San Diego Union. The part about the officer’s actions took up all of six lines. The Los Angeles Times printed their story on Page 8 and apparently never heard of the officer rescuing all those residents, either that or the editing staff chose not to give any credit for a rather heroic act.

Obviously, at least as far as the print media, the criticism mentioned above is richly deserved.

Sgt. NATE CAPLAN

San Diego Police