Bay Area police shooting videos follow same recipe; critics call it 'slick marketing'

[Nevilledog]

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David DeBolt
@daviddebolt
More and more police agencies are using this recipe.

To comply with a 2019 law, police agencies are turning to PR firms to produce videos explaining police shootings, including some of the more controversial ones in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

Bay Area police shooting videos follow same recipe; critics call it ‘slick marketing’
The videos showing what police euphemistically call “officer-involved shootings” follow the same formula: a 3-D map of the scene, 911 dispatch tapes and text set up a narrative b…
mercurynews.com
11:48 AM · May 16, 2021

https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/05/16/police-pr-video-machine-criticized/

The videos showing what police euphemistically call “officer-involved shootings” follow the same formula: a 3-D map of the scene, 911 dispatch tapes and text set up a narrative before viewers see selected body cam footage.

In most cases, a police chief or sheriff opens the video explaining why the shooting was justified. Often, the chief is reading from a script written by an outside consultant. The edited camera footage may not even show the actual use of force – an effect far different from a raw cellphone or body cam video of a confrontation that leaves watchers wondering, “Why did they have to shoot?”

More and more police agencies are using this recipe.

To comply with a 2019 state transparency law, California police agencies are turning to public relations firms to produce slick and persuasive videos explaining police shootings, including some of the more controversial police killings in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

One firm run by former TV news reporters, Vacaville-based Critical Incident Videos LLC, has contracted with about 100 agencies up and down the state. The list includes police departments in Oakland, Hayward, San Leandro, Vallejo, Sonoma County, Concord, Menlo Park and Pittsburg. The agency’s résumé includes videos of several highly criticized deaths in recent years, including Sean Monterrosa in Vallejo, Steven Taylor in San Leandro and Joseph Perez in Fresno.

*snip*

[Ferrets are Cool]

1. Kicking for views

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. K&R.

[Hekate]

3. KnR

[crickets]

4. *sigh* K&R for visibility.