Clinton News Record, 2014-10-01, Page 66 News Record • Wednesday, October 1, 2014
CONTINUED FROM > PAGE 3
and not felt a need to warn
the public. But, he acknowl-
edged, the more information
the better.
"It would be a very simple
statement to come out with,
to say we have reason to
believe this is an isolated
case. To put your community
at rest," said Burrows, who
advices police on social
media use.
"As long as it's not going to
hurt the rest of the informa-
tion, I don't see why they
can't."
Burrows said social media
has created the need for a
cultural shift in police agen-
cies, accustomed to control-
ling information and decid-
ing when and how to release
it.
"It used to be information
was power, and if you held
the information you held the
power," he said. "Realistically
since (the 1990s), there's
been a transitional shift
where sharing the
information gives you more
power than holding the
information.
"Now, a lot of agencies are
starting to open up to the
fact that transparency is the
key."
But because of the struc-
ture of policing, officers may
be nervous about stepping
out of bounds.
"The OPP is a massive
organization and very
decentralized. To them ,it
can be safer to not say any-
thing for fear of not stepping
on anybody's toes," said Bur-
rows. "It depends on rules of
engagement for OPP and
media relations. They really
have to start talking"
The information void in
Huron County — it contin-
ued, even as police arrested
70 -year-old shooting suspect
Boris Panovski this week and
charged the hairdresser and
former dog handler with
murder and attempted mur-
der — was in marked con-
trast to how the RCMP
handled a manhunt in June
after three Mounties were
shot and killed in Moncton,
N.B.
The RCMP put out its first
tweet less than an hour after
24 -year-old Justin Bourque,
who's since pleaded guilty to
three counts of first-degree
murder, shot at officers. Res-
idents were kept in the loop.
In South Carolina recently,
in another example of the
digital shift, news fired out as
a three-way conversation
between Twitter users,
reporters and the sheriff's
office after an officer was
shot.
In Ontario, police are
trying.
Most forces are online and
have Twitter accounts.
They're getting good at traf-
fic reports — the OPP rou-
tinely reports crashes on
highways.
But criminal investiga-
tions are different.
It's been seven years since
Huron County was terror-
ized by a triple killer on the
lam, Jesse Imeson, who tied
up and shot dead a local
farm couple, Bill and Helene
Regier, before escaping a
police dragnet and fleeing to
west Quebec. Then, the OPP
said they looking for a killer.
People were told to be
cautious.
This latest case — in the
same county — is different,
suggesting police didn't sus-
pect risk to the public. But
residents looking out their
windows didn't know that.
"We are aware of the
importance of staying out in
front of the social media on
issues ... Regrettably, this
did not happen in this case,
which allowed rumour and
speculation to snowball,"
said OPP Sgt. David Rektor,
in charge of OPP communi-
cations in Western Ontario.
"There was a need to con-
firm the obvious," he said,
adding that "would have
gone a long way to alleviate
the rumours ... there was a
manhunt or lockdown."
Romayne Smith Fullarton,
(9) Mr ri
Cf/J 19y./ r}'(/,f9,19}7
7Ue lciulte 1,a4t ?a Waldo
at 7e4e s¢nea e‘sta:
Clinton United Church
105 Ontario Street
Minister Rev. Randy Covey
Director of Music: Louise Dockstader
Church Office: 519-482-9553
www. c l i nto n u n ited. ca
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 05
10:30 AM WORSHIP SERVICE
WORLD WIDE COMMUNION
LUNCH for Africa Project
raBIBLE STUDY 7 pm
EVERYONE WELCOME
Christian Reformed Church
243 Princess St. E., Clinton
Pastor Ron Luchies
519-482-5264
SUNDAY OCTOBER 05, 2014
10:00 AM- Morning Service
7:00 PM -Evening Service
" Praise be to the Lord, the God of
Israel, from everlasting to everlasting."
Psalm 106 vs 48
All Visitors Welcome!
St. Paul's Anglican Church
A Congregation of the
Parish of The Holy Spirit
49 Ontario St., Clinton
The Reverend Karine A. Snowdon BA, M.Div
Organist & Choir Master: Dana Prouse
Saturday October 4 • St. Francis of Assisi Day
Blessing of the Animals at 11:30 am
Bring your pets -Everyone Welcome
Sunday, October 5 • Harvest Thanksgiving
Worship at 11:15 am • Everyone Welcome
Friendship Guild meets
Wed. Oct. 8 at 2 pm in the hall
TO ADVERTISE IN THIS
SECTION, PLEASE CALL
CHRISTY 519-4$2-3443
clinton.clas$ifieds@
sunmedia.ca
BIBLE MISSIONARY CHURCH
35 Toronto Blvd., Vanastra
(519) 482-8183
OCTOBER 05, 2014
Sunday Morning Worship 11:00 AM
Sunday Evening Worship 7:00 PM
Pastor Josh McCarthy
Everyone Welcome!
F
Heartland Community Church
(52 Victoria Street, Clinton, Ontario)
For information see www.heartlandemc.com
Church 519-606-1015
Pastor Charles Gingerich
SUNDY OCTOBER 05, 2014
10:00 AM FAMILY SERVICE :
Worship as a family with us. Then the chil-
dren enjoy their program while adults are
blessed by a message for them.
7:00 PM SHARE & PRAYER SER VICE
E xpect a welcome and a blessing!
Fellowship Bible Chapel
220 KING ST., LONDESBOROUGH
www.fel lowsh i pbi blechapel.ca
SUNDAY,OCTOBER 05, 2014
9:45 am: Breaking of Bread
11:00 am: Family Bible Hour
ALL WELCOME!
First Baptist Church
85 Huron St., Clinton 482-3598
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 05, 2014
MORNING S ER VICE 10:30 AM
Lay Pastor - Wally DeWolfe
Bible Study Wednesday 7:30 PM
a Western University media
professor and social media
expert, said the fact residents
turned to a buy -and -sell
web site shows one thing:
Police "owe it to the public"
to get with the times.
"It's reasonable to expect a
minimum amount of infor-
mation. It serves the inter-
ests of the community to say,
'Here is the information we
have. We don't have all the
information we need, but we
will tell you more as we can!
IT WORKS
BOTH WAYS
Sharing information goes
both ways, as Philadelphia
police learned recently after
Twitter and Facebook users
helped them to identify sus-
pects in the mass beating of
a gay couple at a city
restaurant.
"This is how Twitter is sup-
posed to work for cops. I will
take a couple thousand Twit-
ter detectives over any one
real detective any day," Phil-
adelphia police detective Joe
Murray tweeted.
WHAT
OTHERS SAY
"It is the Wild West out
there because of social
media. So police officers,
homicide investigators, may
not have experience dealing
with social media. We are
really struggling with this. I
don't think it is that (OPP)
are trying to obstruct media
access. They are trying to fol-
low the law." J
— Joe Couto, spokesper-
son, Ontario Association of
Chiefs of Police
"Police will withhold sen-
sitive information from the
media if they believe to dis-
close such information
could hinder their investiga-
tion or could be harmful to
the physical safety of other
people with whom they are
in contact, like informants.
In these circumstances, pub-
lic safety trumps the media's
right to know."
— Darryl Davies, crimi-
nology professor, Carleton
University
"Any time there is police
activity and questions are
being raised, (police) should
be out there in the forefront
saying what's going on .. .
Taxpayers have a right to
know what's going on in
their communities, espe-
cially when you get into a sit-
uation where you have road-
blocks and lockdowns. I hate
to say it, but the reality is this
occurred on the weekend —
most corporate people don't
respond:'
— Tim Burrows, former
Toronto police officer and
policing social media
consultant
"People were grasping at
everything, because nobody
was told anything. People
were like 'the police must be
there for another reason! If
they would've just said
something. Living out there,
I'd be terrified too — not
knowing what's going on,
you hear of a shooting but no
suspects."
— Cathy Parsons of Huron
Park, who launched a Face -
book news group — it grew
to nearly 500 members
within days — in the wake of
the Huron shootings two
weeks ago.
CONTINUED > PAGE 7
HURON SUPERIOR
MEMORIALS
CEMETERY MEMORIALS
FLAT MARKERS
INSCRIPTIONS
SERVING HURON COUNTY
SINCE 1976
For Appointment Call Representative
MICHAEL FALCONER
519-482-3664.519-525-2281