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G.O. 10 LONGWOOD POLICE DEPARTMENT GENERAL ORDER NUMBER: GO – 10 SUBJECT: MEDIA RELATIONS EFFECTIVE: AUGUST 11, 2020 REVISED: JULY 1, 2023 GENERAL ORDER MEDIA RELATIONS G O – 10 Page 1 of 8 I. PURPOSE: The police department is committed to informing the community and the news media of events within the public domain that are managed by the agency. It is recognized that certain information must be withheld to protect the constitutional rights of victims and the accused and to avoid interfering with an investigation. II. SCOPE: While it is the duty of all personnel to inform the public of events that affect the community, it is recognized that certain procedures must be established to interpret and control confidential information and information that may only be released upon express authority of the chief. The public information officer is primarily assigned the responsibility of releasing information to the news media. The function of the public information officer will be to: A. Assist police department personnel in media matters, or other public information concerns; B. Assist news personnel in reporting news stories at the scene of incidents, including informing news personnel of access restrictions, when applicable; C. Be available for on-call responses to the news media; D. Prepare and distribute agency news releases; E. Arrange for, and assist at news conferences; F. Coordinate and authorize the release of information about victims, witnesses and suspects within the purvey of this directive; G. Assist in crisis situations that affect the agency; GENERAL ORDER MEDIA RELATIONS G O – 10 Page 2 of 8 H. Coordinate and authorize the release of information concerning confidential investigations and operations, within the purview of this directive and in accordance with Florida State Statutes; I. Develop procedures or assist with coordinating the release of information when other public service agencies are involved in a mutual effort. III. DEFINITIONS: A. Public records: All documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes, photographs, films, sound recordings, data processing software, videos and other storage mediums, or other material, regardless of the physical form, characteristics, or means of transmission, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by any agency. B. Criminal intelligence information: Information with respect to an individual person or group of persons in an effort to anticipate, prevent, or monitor possible criminal activity. Criminal intelligence information shall be considered active as long as it is related to intelligence gathering conducted with a reasonable, good faith belief that it will lead to detection of ongoing or reasonably anticipated criminal activities or is directly related to pending prosecutions or appeals. C. Criminal investigative information: Information with respect to an individual person or group of persons compiled in the course of conducting a criminal investigation of a specific act omission, including, but not limited to, information derived from laboratory tests, reports of investigators or informants, or any type of surveillance. Criminal investigative information shall be considered active as long as it is related to an ongoing investigation which is continuing with a reasonable, good faith anticipation of securing an arrest or prosecution in the foreseeable future or is directly related to impending prosecutions or appeals. IV. RELEASE OF INFORMATION (GENERAL): A. News releases pertaining to interpretation of police department policy, disciplinary action(s) and projected needs of the police department or budgetary matters will be handled only by the chief, his designee or the public information officer. B. The public information officer and the chief of police shall be notified directly when the on-call investigator or traffic homicide investigator is called, or for any other event likely to become a media event. GENERAL ORDER MEDIA RELATIONS G O – 10 Page 3 of 8 C. In the event the public information officer is unavailable and upon approval by the chief of police, the ranking officer at a scene or the ranking officer in charge of an investigation will assume the responsibility for any release of information to the media. Any release of information will be brought to the attention of the public information officer, as soon as practicable. D. A supervisor in charge of an incident or situation that could be of interest to the media is responsible for ensuring that the public information officer and the chief of police are notified. E. Should a supervisor in charge of a fast breaking incident or situation make the decision to provide the media with information regarding the incident, the supervisor may utilize the Media Release Worksheet. The worksheet can be completed and provided to the media pending the arrival of the PIO. (See Appendix A). V. NEWS RELEASE GUIDELINES: A. The following information is considered public information and cannot be withheld from the media. All news releases must be approved by the chief of police prior to distribution. 1. The date, time, location, and nature of a reported crime; 2. The name, sex, age and address of an adult arrested when the crime charged is a felony or misdemeanor; 3. The name, sex, age and address of a juvenile arrested when the crime charged is a felony. When the crime charged is a misdemeanor, juveniles must be found by a court to have committed three or more violations of law which, if committed by an adult, would be misdemeanors. 4. When a juvenile is transferred to the adult system under F.S.S. 985.557, indicted under F.S.S. 985.56 or waived under F.S.S. 985.556; 5. When a juvenile is taken into custody by a law enforcement officer for a violation of law subject to the provisions of F.S.S. 985.557(2) (b) or (d); 6. When a juvenile is transferred to the adult system but sentenced to the juvenile system pursuant to F.S.S. 985.565 shall not be considered confidential and exempt from F.S.S. 119.07(1) solely because of the child’s age. 7. All records of juvenile traffic violations shall be kept in the full name of the violator and shall be open to inspection and publication in the same manner as adult traffic violators. GENERAL ORDER MEDIA RELATIONS G O – 10 Page 4 of 8 8. A felony complaint/arrest affidavit created and maintained by the school resource officer for a juvenile or adult who is a student in the public schools, is a law enforcement record subject to disclosure, provided that the exempt information such as active criminal investigative information is deleted prior to release. 9. The time, date and location of the incident, and of the arrest; 10. The crime charged; and 11. The name, sex, age, and address of the victim of a crime except as follows in paragraph B (1) below: B. The following information is not considered public information and may be withheld from any media. Any information requests that fall outside these guidelines should be directed to the public information officer: 1. a. Any criminal intelligence information or criminal investigative information including the photograph, name, address, or other fact or information which reveals the identity of the victim of the crime of child abuse as defined by chapter 827 b. Any criminal intelligence information or criminal investigative information which may reveal the identity of a person who is a victim of any sexual offense, including a sexual offense proscribed in chapter 794, chapter 796, chapter 800, chapter 827, or chapter 847. c. A photograph, videotape, or image of any part of the body of the victim of a sexual offense prohibited under chapter 794, chapter 796, chapter 800, F.S.S. 810.145, chapter 827 or chapter 847, regardless of whether the photograph, videotape, or image identifies the victim. d. The victim, in specific crimes, (Marsy’s Law Article 1 Section 16 Florida Constitution) may request an exemption prohibiting the disclosure of information to the public which reveals the victim’s name, home and work telephone numbers, home and work addresses and personal assets not otherwise held confidential under the Public Records Law. This information shall be provided to the victim through the informational brochure as described in this directive and through training of the Longwood Police Department Public Information Officer and Records Section personnel. GENERAL ORDER MEDIA RELATIONS G O – 10 Page 5 of 8 2. Active criminal intelligence information and/or active criminal investigative information; or information from other agencies without their concurrence; 3. Any information revealing the identity of a confidential informant or confidential source; 4. Any comprehensive inventory of local law enforcement resources, information revealing surveillance techniques or procedures or personnel, and any comprehensive policies or plans compiled by a criminal justice agency pertaining to the mobilization, deployment or tactical operations involved in responding to emergencies; 5. Any information revealing undercover personnel of any criminal justice agency; 6. Any criminal intelligence information or criminal investigative information which reveals the personal assets of the victim of a crime, other than stolen or destroyed during the commission of the crime; 7. The home addresses, telephone numbers, social security numbers and photographs of active or former law enforcement personnel, the home addresses, telephone numbers, photographs, and places of employment of the spouses and children of active or former law enforcement personnel, and the names and locations of schools and day care facilities attended by the children of active or former law enforcement personnel; 8. Any information revealing the substance of a confession, admission of guilt, statement or refusal of a statement, by an accused until such time as the criminal case is finally determined by adjudication, dismissal or other final disposition; 9. Statement regarding the character, reputation or prior criminal record of the accused; 10. The identity, testimony, or credibility of a prospective witness(es); 11. The performance or results of any tests or refusal to perform a test or participate in a line up; 12. The possibility of any plea from the accused; 13. Opinions concerning evidence or any arguments which may be presented at trial; and, 14. All press releases should be in the format approved by the chief. GENERAL ORDER MEDIA RELATIONS G O – 10 Page 6 of 8 C. All media releases will be based on fact. D. Careful consideration must be given before giving any opinion to the media regarding the guilt or innocence of the accused or merits of the case. Opinions should never be given before consulting with a Public Information Officer, Detective in charge of the incident, or ranking Supervisor. VI. MEDIA ACCESS TO PHOTOGRAPHS: A. An employee will not prevent the photographing of a defendant when he/she is in a public place. An employee will not pose an accused person. B. Police department photographs of suspects may be released, provided the photograph does not jeopardize an investigation. C. It may be proper to release a photograph when a valid law enforcement function can be served. D. Any release of photographs or other information relative to juveniles will be in accordance with state statute. E. If the accused is a member of this agency, Florida State Statue 119.071(4) (d) should be reviewed. The statute does not prohibit releasing photographs of law enforcement personnel but does provide that most photographs of such personnel are exempt from the mandatory disclosure requirements upon request, thus allowing the agency to withhold if desired. Booking photographs of law enforcement are typically public record and must be released upon request, with the following exceptions: 1. The officer is undercover and his or her identity would otherwise be protected by F.S.S. 119.071(4) (c). 2. If the officer has filed a written request for confidentiality, the booking photograph may not be released if the agency in possession of the photograph is not the employer of the officer. (Refer to F.S.S> 119.071(4)(d)2 ). VII. RELEASING NAMES OF PERSONS KILLED OR INJURED: A. An employee will obtain identification of a deceased victim and notify the next of kin before releasing the name and address of the victim to media. If the next of kin cannot be located after reasonable length of time, the identification may be released at the discretion of the public information officer or a supervisor. B. An employee will notify the next of kin of a living and seriously injured victim before releasing the victim’s identification, unless a reasonable length of time has GENERAL ORDER MEDIA RELATIONS G O – 10 Page 7 of 8 elapsed, and the next of kin cannot be located. Any said release should be at the discretion if the public information officer or supervisor. C. Every attempt shall be made to notify the next of kin in the matter of death by a personal visit by law enforcement personnel or other competent persons. VIII. PERMITTING NEWS MEDIA ONTO A SCENE: A. In the event of a major crime, incident, or disaster, news media personnel may be admitted to a scene depending on the tactical situation and the possibility of jeopardizing evidence or any investigation. B. Media personnel do not have the authority to enter a crime scene perimeter or area that has been secured to preserve evidence, or to any location where the presence of unauthorized person jeopardizes an investigation. C. After a crime scene has been processed, only the owners, legal occupants, or their agents may grant permission for media personnel to enter private dwellings or the surrounding property D. Media personnel may photograph or report anything observed when legally present at a scene. Employees have a duty to advise the media when photographs or the collection of information could interfere with an investigation or place a victim, suspect or other person in jeopardy. IX. MISCELLANEOUS: A. At any scene or during any investigation where other law enforcement agencies are involved, the responsibility for the media release of any information to media personnel or other persons will be that of the agency having jurisdiction or control of the scene or investigation. B. Employees/personnel are prohibited from providing statements to the press about another agency’s case or event. C. Employees shall not authorize the use of their name or a photograph, which identifies them as being affiliated with the department, or their official title in connection with testimonial or advertisement of any commodity, endorsement, or commercial enterprise without the expressed approval of the chief of police. GENERAL ORDER MEDIA RELATIONS G O – 10 Page 8 of 8 (Appendix A) Longwood Police Department Press Release Worksheet Written in Accordance with GO-10 NOTE: With Respect to Fast Breaking Events, DO NOT VERIFY Kidnapping Situations, Hostage Situations, Insurance Frauds, Embezzlements, Auto Theft Rings, Fencing Operations Incident Type: ________________________________________________ Location: _____________________________________________________ Day: _________________Date: _________________Time: ___________ Arrestee: Name: __________________R/S: ________ Age: ______ Address: _______________________________________ Involvement: ____________________________________ Arrestee: Name: __________________R/S: ________Age: _______ Address: _______________________________________ Involvement: ____________________________________ Victim: Name: __________________R/S: ________Age: _______ Address: _______________________________________ Injuries: ________________________________________ Victim: Name: __________________R/S: ________Age: _______ Address: _______________________________________ Injuries: ________________________________________ Do Not release the existence of confessions, admissions, or statements by suspects, whether they were given or refused. Additional Information: ______________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ YES Information can be provided for  Juveniles arrested for felony  Juveniles convicted of 3 misdemeanors  Juveniles convicted of 2nd degree violent felony  Juveniles committing traffic offenses  Photos of arrestees (included juveniles)  Photos of suspects if needed to obtain public assistance  History of arrests and/or convictions  Juvenile victims except in NO column NO Information cannot be provided for  Victims of sexual, child/elderly abuse  Confessions, admissions, or statements  NCIC/FCIC Records X Non-Disclosure signed by victim: Stalking; Harassment; Domestic Violence