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This should have happened decades ago. Go read initial news accounts of the police killings of Laquan McDonald or Walter Scott, which relayed pure falsehoods. As a journalist, police have provided me accounts contradicting events I witnessed firsthand. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/journalists-are-reexamining-their-reliance-on-a-longtime-source-the-police/2020/06/30/303c929c-b63a-11ea-a510-55bf26485c93_story.html
I've had a police officer lie to me on the record, then accidentally admit to me off the record minutes that he was lying, and then yell at me when I told him I wouldn't print the false statement. He accused me of violating the sanctity of an off the record conversation.
I've had high-ranking police reveal to me on-the-record that the dept had asked the US DOJ for legal cover to detain undocumented immigrants in violation of CA state law, and then had the same police officials publicly attack my resulting article, alleging it was unsourced.
I've had police lie to me about the proximity of recovered stolen goods to a second crime scene in an attempt to publicly link the two locations
All of these were on-the-record conversations and were deliberate attempts to mislead the public. I understand it's important for journalists to report quickly on crime, but news organizations should have reevaluated these relationships long ago based on the track record.
Police officers are no doubt valuable sources for journalists, & I've known officers who put their jobs on the line to get the truth out. Much respect to them. But that wouldn't be necessary if police departments provided truthful info in their official accounts.
