Writers, like cops, have ways to retaliate when done wrong. Saturday’s (5/13) Chronicle illustrates a try of questionable success. Think back to February 5 when Chronicle reporter, Susan Sward, was top dog leading a pit bull attack on San Francisco Police. At issue were police, excessive force and helpless citizens. Failure to link cops and robbers with helpless and excessive flawed much of the series. What most remember however, wasn’t the story, it was the picture.
A cab driver was identified as a cop in a huge front page photo. The result was writers, not police, winning the “gang that couldn’t shoot straight” award. Saturday, Sward, one of the Chronicle’s “gang” was at it again.
Seems a suspected robber, when confronted by police, determined not obeying police instructions could inject his life with more adventure and excitement. He was right!
To assure he wasn’t misunderstood, he took his truck, turned it around and aimed it directly at the front of a patrol car. Causing a head on collision, he then put his truck in reverse slamming into a second patrol car.
Police then commenced a series of lessons on interaction with law enforcement. Lesson number one: Cops have guns! Lesson 2: Threaten a cop and bullets will leave those guns*very quickly.
Lesson number 3 was then administered. Truth: cops opened fire. Consequence: At SF General, the driver has a non-life threatening wound in his upper body and the passenger, according to the Chronicle, claims he is in pain.
In pain? Talk about an understatement!
According to the Chronicle, four cops opened fire on two bad guys. In pain? Talk about luck! These guys are lucky to be alive!
Cops should have won the “gang that couldn’t shoot straight” award. That was until Saturday’s Chronicle.
In seven of 14 paragraphs, their report on this incident is on the officer featured in their February 5 story, not on the incident from last week. Though he is targeted, no details of the officer’s involvement in the incident appear.
Police take a direct hit in a head on collision. Yey, Sward fails to report if they need medical attention.
Bottom line is Sward attempts to portray one police officer as a bad guy. In reality, last Wednesday’s Chronicle explains why.
Claiming his picture on the Chronicle’s front page caused most everything except sterility, the cab driver identified as a cop in the February 5 edition, fulfilled an American tradition**he sued the Chronicle.
In an Associated Press story, Chronicle spokesperson, Patricia Hoyt, said, “I’m sorry to see it entering the judicial system.” Of course, she is.
The AP story concludes: “San Francisco police used the gaffe to criticize the series for shoddy reporting.” Saturday’s Chronicle may have given them another reason.
