coverage - WKTV Journal

Eric Freedman (Supplied/Capital News Service)

LANSING – When the horrendous shooting occurred on the Michigan State University campus, student journalists rushed in to cover the tragedy, its impact on the university and community, the investigation and university security.

Their reporting and photos about the Feb. 13 attack that killed three students and seriously wounded five others has appeared prominently in local and national media.

For example, the majority of student correspondents for Capital News Service, our public affairs reporting practicum, were quickly on the job, reporting for The State News – the independent student newspaper – Lansing City Pulse, Impact 89 (WDBM-FM) radio and Michigan Advance.

Articles by another MSU journalism student have been featured in the Washington Post.

In my role as a journalism professor, I see their professional-caliber work as a vivid demonstration of the importance of training the next generations of news gatherers and storytellers.

That’s increasingly crucial in an era when traditional U.S. mainstream news media – magazines and newspapers, radio and television stations – are slashing staff, merging companies, even going out of business. The trend is depriving the public of timely, fair, ethical and accurate information and news.

One damaging result is the growing number of “news deserts” in the United States, counties without a newspaper of their own.

The nonpartisan Center for Community News has been researching the growth of university-led, student-staffed news services that give students real-world experience while providing communities with the news they need.

“Millions of Americans get their news from student reporters working in university-coordinated newsrooms, news labs and classes,” the center pointed out in a study released earlier this year.

Such collaborations “are high-touch programs in which faculty teach and mentor students, edit and assign work and coordinate with media partners — enabling local stories that would not exist otherwise,” according to the center, which is based at the University of Vermont.

I fully endorse the center’s assertion that “local news is more than just a trusted source of critical information: It’s an essential ingredient in a healthy democracy. Communities with dedicated local news organizations report higher levels of civic engagement, social cohesion, and effective problem-solving.”

The center says, “We connect student journalists at every stage of life with local news organizations to help build a world in which every community has access to reliable information by and for the people who live there.”

MSU has two such news services.

Credit: Asher Freedman

Students in Capital News Service, now in its 41^st year, report on Michigan public policy, government and politics for about 45 newspapers and online news outlets across the state.

Our subscribing member news organizations range in circulation size from the Detroit News to small community publications such as the WKTV Journal. They range geographically from Iron Mountain to Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula and from the Northern Lower Peninsula to Sturgis and Three Rivers in Southwest Michigan and Monroe, Blissfield and Adrian in Southeast Michigan.

Our second student-news service, Great Lakes Echo, reports on the environment – including energy, transportation, environmental justice and environmental health – in Michigan and the other Great Lakes states and Canadian provinces. Many of those stories are reposted by other news organizations in the region.

Elsewhere in the state, broadcast students at Eastern Michigan University partner with National Public Radio affiliate WEMU to produce audio stories, according to the Center for Community News.

Nationally, more than 100 colleges and universities have some type of academic-news collaborations, according to the center. In other Great Lakes states, there are also statehouse-focused programs run by the University of Illinois and by the State University of New York at New Paltz.

“Universities and colleges can provide leadership and resources to address the local news crisis,” the center’s January report said. “Many are doing something, but many could do more.”

They need to prepare students to cover the news that matters and the news that engages the public, whether it’s a mass shooting, the impacts of climate change, elections, pandemics, fluctuating gas prices, even the World Series and the Oscars.

As the center’s report puts it:“Democracy needs local news. Colleges and universities are part of the solution. Students are looking for meaningful experiences, and to learn by doing.”

Eric Freedman is the director of Capital News Service and the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University.

Officers look over the damaged police cars from the May 30 riots. Five Wyoming Police vehicles and two Grand Rapids police vehicles were burned. (Supplied/Wyoming Department of Public Safety)

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

The City of Wyoming received some good news in that the cost to replace five police cars that were burned during the May 30 riots in Grand Rapids will be mostly covered by insurance, according to Wyoming Police Chief Kim Koster.

The news came as a surprise since, as reported by City Manager Curtis Holt at a June meeting, most insurance coverage does not provide for riot or civil disservice.

A recent report from Koster showed the insurance would pay about 60 percent of the costs to replace the vehicles with no expected change in the departments insurance premiums. Total replacement costs for the five vehicles is $372, 585.99. Insurance will cover $219,940.99 with the city’s out of pocket costs around $152,645. The department does have a depreciation reserve for replacement of vehicles, with each of the departments 27 vehicles having its own replacement fund. There was about $140,000 available in replacement funds specifically for the five cars that were lost on May 30. This left the city with an unbudgeted net cost of $12,645.

The Wyoming Department of Public Safety’s fleet services was able to get one new vehicle on the road fairly quickly with fleet services continuing to work on the remains cars.

“It does take time to get the cars ready as they do not come fully equipped,” Koster said.

The Wyoming Department of Public Safety has one of the few K-9 units, which assists other departments in the county. (WKTV)

A Cooperative Between Departments

The lost of the cars did create a hardship for the department, Koster said, adding that despite that, if faced with the same situation again, she would not hesitate to send the Wyoming officers out to help assist Grand Rapids or any other police department in Kent County.

“The cooperative we have [between police departments in Kent County] is unusual,” Koster said. “We hear it from other officers across the country and even from other parts of the state talk about how unusual it is.”

Some departments have specialized in certain areas. For example, the Wyoming Department of Public Safety is one of a handful of departments that has a K-9 unit as well as a forensics unit. There is also the Metropolitan Fraud and Identity Theft Team comprised of detectives from the Grand Rapids Police, Kent County Sheriff, Wyoming Police, and Kentwood Police departments.

“I think it is important for Wyoming residents to know that we have relied on other departments as much as they have relied on us,” Koster said, adding perhaps one of the best examples of this cooperative has been the Metro Cruise.

“Many people just love coming down for Metro Cruise,” she said. “It is a a good family event and people have a good time. For us to assure the safety of residents, we have had to rely on other agencies.”

Just a year ago, a Grand Rapids protest came into the City of Wyoming, ending at the Secretary of State’s office. The Grand Rapids Police stayed with the protest as it moved to the City of Wyoming, working with Wyoming officers. Koster added “that there is some comfort in knowing that public safety doesn’t stop at a border.”

The services come at no cost to the city with only the understanding that when asked, Wyoming will return the favor. Such was the case on May 30.

One of the five Wyoming Police cars on fire the night of May 30. (Photo by Andris B Visockis)

The events of May 30

The first that any of the Wyoming Department of Public Safety officers learned that their cars were on fire during the May 30 riots was when it came over dispatch.

“Dispatch asked if there were any police cruisers on Pearl because they had just gotten a report of a police car on fire,” Lt. Eric Wiler said. “That was my car.”

The Wyoming officers, along with those from Walker, Kentwood, Kent County, and Ottawa County, came to Grand Rapids that night to help the Grand Rapids Police Department. About 10 officers, who were part of joint tactical bicycle brigade, had gone down earlier in the day with Grand Rapids Police Department requesting additional help around 9/9:30 p.m., Wiler said, adding about 20 Wyoming officers responded.

The Wyoming officers were first along Market Street but a call came that GRPD needed more officers at its station as people were attempting to break into the building, Wiler said. The officers relocated, parking the five Wyoming police cars on Pearl Street.

“When we parked, there was nothing happening on the street,” Wiler said. From reports, rioters moved away from the Fulton/Division area down to Pearl Street.

“I watched as they set fire to the prosecutor’s building,” Wiler said. “By that time, there was more of them than us and all we could do is try to keep people safe.”

Koster said as she heard how the events were unfolding in downtown Grand Rapids, her concern became more of the safety of the officers and the public.

“I was relieved, happy, thankful that our officers were able to safely return to our offices,” Koster said. “I felt for the business owners who suffered the damage. I don’t think violence is ever the answer.”

The Wyoming Police cars from May 30. (Photo by Andris B. Visockis)

Understanding the anger

“First and foremost, I have to say that we are all in agreement in that what happened to George Floyd was disgusting and distributing,” Koster said, adding she understands the anger as she too was appalled by the arrest video of Floyd. “I believe those officers deserved to be criminally charged. They were a betrayal to the badge that we all wear.”

To the best of her knowledge, Koster said she is unaware of the Wyoming Department of Public Safety having an incident similar to that of George Floyd. She credits this in part to the accreditation the department received from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). Considered the gold standard in public safety, CALEA requires departments to meet certain standards in such areas as accountability and transparency. This includes internal affairs and that these cases are handled in a proper manner.

In fact, in the Wyoming Department of Public Safety’s annual report, there is a section that reports the number of internal investigations that have taken place in the department. In the 2019 report, the department had 23 cases of which six allegations were deemed sustained.

Koster noted that the department continues to review and update its policies and practices.

The silver lining

Besides the officers returning safely, there was another silver lining from the May 30 incident. The department was looking to replace its current in-car camera system, which is outdate and not supported, Koster said. The five new vehicles will have the new in-car camera systems which the insurance company will cover fully as part of its payment. The cost for the new in-car camera system for the five cars is just below $50,000.