Policy Text
Policy
346Mountain View Police Department
Mountain View PD Policy Manual
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2019/12/16, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by Mountain View Police
DepartmentMedia Relations - 1Media Relations
346.1 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.
346.2 RESPONSIBILITIES
The ultimate authority and responsibility for the release of information to the media shall remain
with the Police Chief, however, in situations not warranting immediate notice to the Police Chief
and in situations where the Police Chief has given prior approval, Captains, 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.
346.2.1 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 Police Chief.
346.2.2 DISTRIBUTION OF PRESS RELEASES
Press releases will be prepared by the Public Information Officer (PIO) or his/her designee. When
not available, the press release will be prepared by a Department supervisor. A copy of the press
release, if not authored by the PIO, will be forwarded to his or her office.
The Police Chief will be notified through the appropriate Chain of Command of press releases
if applicable.
In addition, the press release will be:
(a)Provided or forwarded to the appropriate City Council/CMO lists when necessary.
(b)Provided or forwarded to the appropriate school district and other business entities
when necessary.
Mountain View Police Department
Mountain View PD Policy Manual
Media Relations
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2019/12/16, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by Mountain View Police
DepartmentMedia Relations - 2(c)Provided or forwarded if necessary to the media.
(d)Provided or forwarded to appropriate Department staff when necessary.
(e)Posted on department social media platforms, blog and website when appropriate.
(f)Updated and redistributed as necessary.
346.3 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.
1.Reasonable effort should be made to provide a safe staging area for the
media that is near the incident and that will not interfere with emergency or
criminal investigation operations. All information released to the media should
be coordinated through the department Public Information Officer or other
designated spokesperson.
2.Whenever the presence of media or other aircraft pose a threat to public or officer
safety or significantly hampers incident operations, the field supervisor should
consider requesting a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR). All requests for a
TFR should be routed through the Watch Commander. The TFR request should
include specific information regarding the perimeter and altitude necessary for
the incident and should be requested through the appropriate control tower. If
the control tower is not known, the Federal Aviation Administration should be
contacted (14 CFR 91.137).
(c)No member of this department who is under investigation shall be subjected to media
visits or interviews without the consent of the involved employee (Government Code
§ 3303(e)).
(d)Media interviews with individuals who are in custody should not be permitted without
the approval of the Police Chief and the express consent of the person in custody.
A tactical operation should be handled in the same manner as a crime scene, except the news
media shall be permitted within the outer perimeter of the scene, subject to any restrictions as
determined by the supervisor in charge. Department members shall not jeopardize a tactical
operation in order to accommodate the news media. All comments to the media shall be
coordinated through a supervisor or the Public Information Officer.
Mountain View Police Department
Mountain View PD Policy Manual
Media Relations
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2019/12/16, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by Mountain View Police
DepartmentMedia Relations - 3346.3.1 PROVIDING ADVANCE INFORMATION
To protect the safety and rights of officers and other persons, advance information about planned
actions by law enforcement personnel, such as movement of persons in custody or the execution
of an arrest or search warrant, should not be disclosed to the news media, nor should media
representatives be invited to be present at such actions except with the prior approval of the Police
Chief or his/her designee.
Any exceptions to the above should only be considered for the furtherance of legitimate law
enforcement purposes. Prior to approving any exception the Police Chief or his/her designee
will consider, at minimum, whether the release of information or presence of the media would
unreasonably endanger any individual, prejudice the rights of any