The media boycott of the police is over. It ended today after a long delayed meeting between the media and the police. It was held at the Raccoon Street headquarters and lasted a little over an hour. Both sides got to air out their grievances. In the media's case, our gripe was that the police senior command had unilaterally and abruptly discontinued the practice of allowing police officers to give the press media briefings. This happened in mid-September and lasted until mid-October when the media enacted a boycott of all police activities. And though he never addressed what caused the disruption, Commissioner Allen Whylie committed to a new model - which the media agreed with. Here's what it is:..
Allen Whylie - Commissioner of Police
"I'm glad to say that the boycott from the media is over. We've agreed that the police and the media do need to be working together in a more cooperative and collaborative fashion and so we have agreed that twice per week senior officers will be made available that will be doing press briefings to the media here at the Raccoon Street Conference Room. We've also agreed that, in respect to the out districts, the head national crimes investigations branch would be responsible to do those briefings."
"There are other issues that clearly we will have to address going forward because we, as I've said, while we have the opportunity to ensure that we do right for our citizenry, we have to do that together and we have an opportunity to work closer with the media and the media have an opportunity to work closer with us to address, not just some of the things that we see in carrying out our functions, but some of the things that confronts the society."
And because this is the third breakdown in police - media relations for 2017 - and the second boycott, a mechanism has now been put in place to address matters before another break down occurs.
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