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Sunday, May 25, 2014

Ark-La-Tex Media: FAIL!

May 25, 2014

by Richard Reynolds


On Tuesday, May 20, 2014, Shreveport Police Corporal Logan R. McDonald was arrested on a charge of malfeasance and booked into Caddo Correctional Center.  He had been charged with malfeasance, but no local media reported any details concerning the nature of the malfeasance.  I inquired about this to KSLA, and their response has been noted before in the previous post of "THE DOOMED STUFFING."  It reads:

"We have received clarification on this, upon further requests for information on the release of information regarding criminal charges against officers and other public employees in general, and we have been able to glean at least this much more specific to the McDonald case (copied directly from the Initial Report requested from SPD): SHREVEPORT POLICE DEPT WAS NOTIFIED OF AN EMPLOYEE WHO TESTED POSITIVE FOR SCH II CDS, WHILE IN THE PERFORMANCE OF HIS DUTIES.
It's not much more, but it does at least provide a detail as to the nature of the alleged malfeasance. In spite of having difficulty in the past when information like this has been requested, it was released quite readily this time around, and SPD has clarified that the Officers Bill of Rights is invoked is [sic] only in regard to administrative investigations, not criminal. It's worth noting that, while police readily release far more detail on most other criminal arrests, they never do with officers or firefighters. It might be this fact, coupled with a refusal to release information in an unrelated administrative investigation recently that led to the misunderstanding. This has now been clarified."

--from chat message by KSLA-TV sent to me in response to my repeated requests for any information regarding the nature of Corporal Logan's offense

They did not respond, nor has any other local media yet responded, to my many inquiries into the nature of a lawsuit that was settled by the First Judicial Court of Caddo Parish, via the required approval of the Shreveport City Council, regarding Corporal Logan and the City of Shreveport vs. Robert E. Shaw, in which Mr. Shaw was awarded in excess of $200,000.  It is a matter of public record that this settlement occurred, but I can find no mention of it in the media -- only the published minutes of the City Council meeting in which approval was granted.  It seems troubling that the city of Shreveport would settle a lawsuit in excess of $200,000 and there would not even be a mention of it in the media while it is public record.  I found it within a few minutes of reading the initial story of Corporal Logan's vague charge, but absolutely no media seems to have mentioned it in any past stories that I could find via the internet.  Is there a connection of this story to the current troubles of Corporal McDonald?  I don't know, the media doesn't seem to want to find out, and KSLA has at this time not even updated the story by stating that Corporal McDonald's arrest was related to testing positive for Schedule II Controlled Dangerous Substance while in the performance of his duty; they have only given me the above-cited comment.

I call this story an epic Ark-La-Tex media fail because I seem to be the only one interested currently in finding out information that should be available to the public.  It is the job of the media to report on such stories in the greatest possible detail they can give, to follow leads ... but, to quote KSLA-TV, it seems "This has now been clarified."

I find no clarity in the story whatsoever.  I find only the appearance of preferential treatment in not disclosing or updating information.  I find it horrendously unfair that minor criminals have their addresses listed in the press before they are even tried and great detail usually given to the allegations against them, yet officials such as police officers and firefighters are afforded much greater protections of their privacy by the media.

I will follow this story until I am satisfied with answers.  I will not stop following or discussing or commenting about this story because the media thinks "This has been clarified" when it most certainly has been anything but clarified.

Links: (previous post on the Logan malfeasance arrest and media response):  http://thedoomedstuffing.blogspot.com/2014/05/shreveport-officer-arrested-with-no.html
Link: Another blog on Blogger with a post of the official vague story:  http://whathappenedtoprotectandserve.blogspot.com/2014/05/officer-logan-mcdonald-arrested-for.html

1 comment:

  1. Richard please list your email I have some interesting need to give you

    ReplyDelete