The most often read section of our Web site as it is in the newspaper, too, I suspect is the Public Records section.
This is where obituaries, police blotter items and accident reports are listed.
Guess which section also draws the most angry calls to the Times?
Uh, huh. The Public Records section.
Most of the calls are from someone who has been arrested or in an accident who is calling to say that something reported in the paper or online is wrong. Sometimes the caller is right, the report is wrong. Sometimes the caller is wrong, and is just trying to get some help from the newspaper to clear his or her name.
Something people should know about the police blotter and accident items is that the report you see in the newspaper comes directly from police reports from the local law enforcement agency that handled the call. Sometimes the reports are wrong. Sometimes the newspaper makes an error in reading the report.
There usually are dozens of police, court or accident reports in each days newspaper. The error percentage rate on these actually would be extremely low. Brian Gray is the reporter who handles most of the Public Record reports, and hes experienced and extremely thorough. But given the subject matter, when a mistake is made it can be particularly bothersome certainly for the individuals mentioned in the report but also for the newspaper and law enforcement agency.
If its our mistake, we correct it as quickly as we can in the next edition of the newspaper or within minutes online. If our report jibes with the report provided by the law enforcement agency, we check with the agency to make sure someone there didnt make a mistake. Law enforcement officers handle a lot of paperwork. They make mistakes sometimes, too. When the law enforcement agency makes the mistake, we still print the correction as soon as possible.
Another reason people might call is to try to persuade the Times not to run a particular incident or accident report in the newspaper. We never agree to doing so. We cannot make exceptions any at all on public record items. We publish all police, accident and traffic cour reports that we receive.
And when a Times employee ends up in those reports hopefully only for speeding tickets or the sort their names go to the front of the list in the paper.
This is where obituaries, police blotter items and accident reports are listed.
Guess which section also draws the most angry calls to the Times?
Uh, huh. The Public Records section.
Most of the calls are from someone who has been arrested or in an accident who is calling to say that something reported in the paper or online is wrong. Sometimes the caller is right, the report is wrong. Sometimes the caller is wrong, and is just trying to get some help from the newspaper to clear his or her name.
Something people should know about the police blotter and accident items is that the report you see in the newspaper comes directly from police reports from the local law enforcement agency that handled the call. Sometimes the reports are wrong. Sometimes the newspaper makes an error in reading the report.
There usually are dozens of police, court or accident reports in each days newspaper. The error percentage rate on these actually would be extremely low. Brian Gray is the reporter who handles most of the Public Record reports, and hes experienced and extremely thorough. But given the subject matter, when a mistake is made it can be particularly bothersome certainly for the individuals mentioned in the report but also for the newspaper and law enforcement agency.
If its our mistake, we correct it as quickly as we can in the next edition of the newspaper or within minutes online. If our report jibes with the report provided by the law enforcement agency, we check with the agency to make sure someone there didnt make a mistake. Law enforcement officers handle a lot of paperwork. They make mistakes sometimes, too. When the law enforcement agency makes the mistake, we still print the correction as soon as possible.
Another reason people might call is to try to persuade the Times not to run a particular incident or accident report in the newspaper. We never agree to doing so. We cannot make exceptions any at all on public record items. We publish all police, accident and traffic cour reports that we receive.
And when a Times employee ends up in those reports hopefully only for speeding tickets or the sort their names go to the front of the list in the paper.
