Documents for Life

J.D Callaway, the Director of Communications at the Hillsborough Sheriffs office, spoke about several documents to the public affairs reporting students. He discussed several documents including: News Releases, Standard Operating Procedure documents, Florida Traffic Crash Reports, Individuals Charge Reports, Criminal Report Affidavits, Face Sheets, and DUI Reports.

I found that the most interesting document out of all of them is the Criminal Report Affidavit. Once a criminal has a report written in detail about an incident that had their involvement, that detailed account can be exposed for the public to see and read. I feel as a reporter, all of these public record forms can be useful to ones story. However, this particular document really caught my eye.

Callaway explains the Criminal Report Affidavit, or also known as the CRA, as being "a very substantial document, if a police officer is laying down the foundation for a probable cause [case], that will be detailed in this document."

He continues to explain that on the back of the CRA there is a section that allows the officer to give a detailed report of the facts. Also, many reporters use that information as a base for their story and can obtain there lead from the information provided.

Since I was interested in this particular document, I wanted to know more about it. I did some research on the Internet and found several web-sites that answered some of my questions.

One web-site that I found gave me several choices to obtain public records including the background information of any person. This particular search engine allowed me to find criminal reports.

This website is "The Unofficial Public Resource of the American Safety Council for Florida Residents and Visitors."

http://www.stateofflorida.com/Portal/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=13

Also, if you would like to check out another affidavit, go to http://news.findlaw.com/cnn/docs/chldmrdr/flaonstott41705arrst.html

In April of 2005, David Onstott had murder charges brought against him. He was the the former boyfriend of the mother of slain 13-year-old Florida girl Sarah Michelle Lunde. It is interesting to see a real affidavit!

Onstott did receive life in prison.

In conclusion, the Criminal Report Affidavit was just one of the many documents that Callaway spoke of but all of the documents that he mentioned can be used to help a good reporter write a great story.

Chris Davis, investigative editor for the Sarasota Herald Tribune, discussed the importance of public records in investigative reporting. Chris opened my eyes to a new way of using public records. Before, I always thought of public records as being used to create news stories and digging for dirt on people. After hearing him speak about the many different ways to use public records, I came to realize that my access to them is very important as a future journalist.

He talked about a number of different investigations that involved

the use of public records. One story was about the Walker family who

was murdered in Sarasota during the 50’s. Chris talked about investigative reporters who used the interviews after the murder happened in order to put together a 3-D display of the house on the internet.

“What my reporter and graphic artist did was the took a stack of public records, interviews from a number of people who were interviewed right after the crime occurred, investigative notes from the 50’s, and all kinds of information the police had collected about this murder. And then they pieced it together to come up with what the house looked like, what the crime scene looked like, where the different key elements of the clues and evidence that they were collecting and where it was situated in the house,” explained Davis.

The Herald Tribune used other public records that included information that the police gathered such as what the house looked like and how the crime scene was left. The investigators took information from these public records and then placed the elements of evidence in the house. The animated display of the house takes the viewer through a virtual show of how the house looked after the crime. You can even click on items throughout the house and it gives you a description of the object and how it relates to the crime.

“What this graphic does is virtually takes you through the house and it essentially pops up where the bodies were found. There was (also) a shoe that was a key piece of evidence, and there were finger prints that were found on the tub,” said Davis.

To understand better, take a tour through the virtual house: http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?CATEGORY=SPECIAL12

Feel free to click on it and experience the work put together by investigators throughout the use of public records and technology. You can also look at past newspaper articles about the case, as well as sound bites and pictures.

"Just days before Christmas in 1959, a Sarasota County family of four walked ino a trap that became one of Sarasota's notorious unsolved crimes. The Herald-Tribune gained unprecedented access to investigators' files, which span four decades. The files tell the story of a murder mystery that changed a community and continues today."

Just registered my phone for blog updates!!

Tim Nickens

Tim Nickens is a reporter, editorial writer, political editor, and an assistant managing editor, who came to talk to the Public Affairs Reporting class about the Sunshine laws.

Nickens talked about two main areas: the public meeting requirements and Chapter 119: Public Record laws. He did an exceptional job explaining how both are important to journalists and if you don't know about either of these subjects, then you better start!! (Go to a seminar!)

His lecture caught my attention when he spoke about the First Amendment Foundation. This particular foundation has set standards and is still fighting for journalists. One issue that the foundation is fighting for is the right for telephone calls and e-mails to be considered public. Many public officals find loop holes and make their meeting via phone or e-mail, which to journalists is difficult to report to the public what actual is going on.

Okay, so personally on one hand I feel, hey if your a public person dicussing issues about the community, then yeah, journalists should have those records. However, I do understand the devil side to this issue. Personal information may surface that the public doesn't need to know about.

It is that old dinner table question: how far can the government stick their nose into our lives. Well, the same is vice versa. How far should we stick our nose in their business?

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Library Resources

So if you are a student at USF and you need to access some information or if you are doing a research paper and you need some information...guess what, you got it!!!

I have been a student at USF for two years now and I didn't realize that I had access to a butt load of good resources! Cheryl McCoy took us on a tour of the online access that is at our fingertips. :)

Log into the library main page: www.lib.usf.edu

There you will see a tab labled "Research Help" (Its is red/pink). On the bottom of that main page, you will see bullets, that last bullet is labeled "Course Guides". There is a list of courses that are posted, such as JOU 4181: Public Affairs Reporting (This just happens to be the class that I am currently taking that is allowing me obtain these wonderful resources)

And wall-la!! You now have access to information:

"Covering city council meetings, courthouse, city hall, courts, society, and other special assignments. Emphasis is on coverage of major governmental units of all levels of government, including examination and interpretation of public documents and records."

Now, if your not in this particular class, you still can have access to many of the resources at the library. Take my advice, your time at USF will be much easier if you know the librarians!

If you are wanting more information, Cheryl McCoy is willing to answer ANY questions that ANY student may have. Her e-mail address is cmccoy@lib.usf.edu

New to Blogger

New to Blogger!

So many people have told me to blog, that it is the wave of the future, but I never got around to actually setting one up. Well, now my professor has made it a requirement. So now you guys are gonna have to listen to what I say, lol. :)

Talk to you all again....