The Nabe
Journalists will once again be able to access crime reports at local police precincts in New York City — as long as they make requests through a central information office first. The Nabe broke the story last week of a change in police procedure that would have required the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information to dispense reports.
The police revised the directive after CUNY Graduate Graduate School of Journalism Dean Stephen B. Shepard complained in a letter to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, The Nabe reports.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information John McCarthy, responding to Shepard’s letter within a half-hour of receiving it by email Monday night, said that journalists across the city will still be allowed to view the weekly crime reports in a timely manner – provided they make requests through his office. McCarthy and Deputy Inspector Scott Henderson, commanding officer of the 88th Precinct, in separate exchanges assured The Nabe that requiring a reporter to first check with DCPI would not delay the release of the crime reports that comprise the site’s weekly police blotter.
The Nabe plans to publish its weekly police blotter on Friday.
Previously: NYPD stops giving journalists crime reports at precincts
