Policy Text
Policy Delano Police Department
324 Delano PD Policy Manual
Media Relations
324.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE
This policy provides guidelines for media releases and media access to scenes of disasters,
criminal investigations, emergencies and other law enforcement activities.
324.1.1 <STRONG>RELEASE OF OFFICERS NAMES INVOLVED IN AN OIS</STRONG>
When the department receives a request for the names of the involved officers, the names will be disclosed unless there is a specific articulable threat
to the officers’ safety. For example, have threats been made against the officers. Are the officers currently off-duty or on modified duty because
of safety concerns. Have the officers or the families been moved out of their homes because of safety issues if any of these are the case, the
department will not release the names of the officers involved in the OIS.
324.2 RESPONSIBILITIES
The ultimate authority and responsibility for the release of information to the media shall remain
with the Chief of Police, however, in situations not warranting immediate notice to the Chief of
Police and in situations where the Chief of Police has given prior approval, Division Commanders,
Watch Commanders and designated Public Information Officer(s) may prepare and release
information to the media in accordance with this policy and the applicable law.
324.2.1 MEDIA REQUEST
Any media request for information or access to a law enforcement situation shall be referred to the
designated department media representative, or if unavailable, to the first available supervisor.
Prior to releasing any information to the media, employees shall consider the following:
(a) At no time shall any employee of this department make any comment or release
any official information to the media without prior approval from a supervisor or the
designated department media representative.
(b) In situations involving multiple law enforcement agencies, every reasonable effort
should be made to coordinate media releases with the authorized representative of
each involved agency prior to the release of any information by this department.
(c) Under no circumstance should any member of this department make any comments
to the media regarding any law enforcement incident not involving this department
without prior approval of the Chief of Police.
324.3 MEDIA ACCESS
Authorized members of the media shall be provided access to scenes of disasters, criminal
investigations, emergencies and other law enforcement activities subject to the following
conditions (Penal Code § 409.5(d)):
(a) The media representative shall produce valid press credentials that shall be
prominently displayed at all times while in areas otherwise closed to the public.
(b) Media representatives may be prevented from interfering with emergency operations
and criminal investigations.
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2019/12/06, All Rights Reserved. Media Relations - 1
Published with permission by Delano Police Department