Editorial: Crime Coverage and Lawrenceville Patch

In the last few days, Lawrenceville Patch readers have shared their opinions about a trio of crime stories:

• Jan. 19:
• Jan. 20:
• Jan. 21:

I thought it would be helpful for me, as editor, to answer some of the questions raised by readers and offer some insight into how Lawrenceville Patch goes about covering crime and breaking news stories in Lawrence Township.

For the record, crime stories on Lawrenceville Patch are not “cut and pasted” from press releases. Lawrence Township police rarely issue written press releases. They due, however, issue a regular log listing the time, location and general nature of “reportable” incidents that occur in town. This log can be found in PDF form on any number of Police Blotter entries on this site. The log is distributed via email to area media outlets and it is up to individual reporters to contact the police department to inquire for further details about specific incidents.

This is what I do on a regular basis. I call or visit one of the police department spokespersons, usually Lt. Charles Edgar, and interview him for information about incidents. I then write my stories based on the information that I have been given. I speak to Lt. Edgar and other police officers in town on a regular, if not daily basis. I am also constantly listening to the police department, EMS and fire department radio channels and regularly go out to the scene of breaking news events such as accidents, burglaries, robberies, and fires to gather information and photos first-hand.

Yes, there is a lot of coverage of the police department on Lawrenceville Patch. This is the result of me, as a resident and tax payer of this township, wanting to know what goes on around me, and my belief that many others in this town want to be kept informed. Sharing information is the reason why I post the full police logs so readers can fully appreciate the volume and variety of calls our police officers answer. (It should be noted that many less serious police responses are not included in these logs).

I strongly believe that when people see police cars in their neighborhood or they are stuck in a traffic jam created by some kind of emergency situation that they not only want to know what happened but also have a right to know. One reader, Patrick, is certainly right in his comments that by taking some simple precautions you can minimize your chances of becoming a crime victim. It’s not a guarantee by any means, but locking your doors and windows, leaving lights on and keeping valuables out of sight certainly help lessen the odds that a burglar will choose your house or vehicle.

I firmly believe that Lawrence Township police officers do the best they can, given the volume of calls they must answer and the manpower limitations imposed on them as a result of the current economy. As it is, the number of officers during certain overnight hours was reduced earlier this month. I know many of the officers in town personally and respect them for what they do. They are dedicated and committed to keeping this township safe, no matter what some people would suggest.

The truth of the matter is, despite what some people think, Lawrence Township is not Mayberry. It is a very safe place to live, but we are not crime-free. Serious crimes do happen here. For anyone wishing to pretend otherwise, feel free to bury your head in the sand and not read the stories. Last year, two jewelry stores ( and ) were robbed at gunpoint, , and there were many burglaries reported, including one in which in the early hours of the morning.

Two weeks ago – illustrating how dangerous police work can be – Lawrence Township officers what initially appeared to be a routine traffic stop. I report these things not to “sensationalize” them but because I believe people need to be informed and have a realistic view of what is taking place around them.

As far as doing follow-ups to specific crimes and more in-depth statistical stories about crime in Lawrence Township, I wish I could do more. I do regularly inquire with the police department about the status of past investigations, but the reality is that as days and weeks go by it is difficult to go back and look into old matters when so many new crimes are taking place that – on the police end – need to be investigated, and – on my end – need to be reported.

I, too, am curious to see what the township’s overall crime statistics for 2011 look like in comparison to past years. I simply have not had time to inquire about them because, in addition to covering crime, there are so many other stories I need to focus my limited resources on as well. I am the only fulltime employee that AOL has assigned to Lawrenceville Patch and my freelance budget only goes so far.

There are so many investigative stories that need to be done – such as looking into the various lawsuits that have been filed against the township, analyzing township overtime costs, and tracking the response times of the fire companies. It’s just a matter of finding the time and allocating resources. Stay tuned is all I’ll say.

With regard to crime numbers, the police department is expected to present its annual report to township council on Feb. 7. The first thing I will do tomorrow is inquire with Lt. Edgar if the crime statistics for 2011 that will be included in that report are available yet. I promise I will report those numbers as soon as I have them.

The reason that crime in Lawrence Township is reported in such detail on Lawrenceville Patch is that all we care about at Lawrenceville Patch are stories that affect the residents and visitors of the 22 square miles that make up this town. We don’t have to worry about covering other towns like other media. Other local media like The Times and The Trentonian do not regularly cover Lawrence Township crime, not because crime doesn’t happen here, but because they do not have the manpower to do so and what limited resources they have are focused on covering other stories, including crime in Trenton.

As everyone no doubt is aware, times are tough for traditional media outlets. As outlined in my bio on this site, I worked for The Times for nearly 15 years. Newspapers have cut back on staff and, as a result, their ability to fully cover their towns has suffered. Like the other 800+ Patch sites across the country, Lawrenceville Patch focuses on one small area in the hope of providing readers stories they can’t get anywhere else.

Yes, I do post quite a number of press releases on the site for non-hard news items. As explained, my time is limited. Given the option of ignoring a press release that I don’t have time to do anything with or posting that press release on the site with an “editor’s note” disclaimer clearly identifying it as a non-objective bit of copy, I’ll post the press release because, perhaps, some readers will glean some useful information from it that they might not otherwise be able to get.

Remember – Lawrenceville Patch is more than an online newspaper. It’s a place where you, the community, can share your news, opinions and ideas. Anyone is free to comment on a story, become a blogger for the site or send a letter to the editor directly to me (michael.ratcliffe@patch.com), add events to the online calendar (http://lawrenceville.patch.com/events/new), post news to our announcements section (http://lawrenceville.patch.com/announcements/new) or add photos to our .      

As always, thanks for reading.