Chief Hurtt's blog officially open for business
Chief Hurtt's blog is officially open for business. Here's the announcement from HPD:
Houston Police Chief Harold L. Hurtt is now a blogger! Recognizing the need for a quick, informal way to communicate with the Houston residents he serves, Chief Hurtt has started an online weblog (often referred to as a "blog") in order to keep you informed of department initiatives, goals, and activities.
[snip]
In his first post, Chief Hurtt said, "I'm hoping to use this forum as a tool to let you see some of the 'behind the scenes' good work done by the men and women of the Houston Police Department * the kinds of things you aren't likely to see on the news." He also encouraged Houstonians to learn more about helping the department "Keep Houston Safe," and to serve their community by taking advantage of some of the many volunteer programs offered by HPD.Chief Hurtt will be updating the blog on a regular basis. We encourage you to let your viewers and readers know about it, perhaps by including links to it from your own Web site.
Here is an excerpt from the Chief's first post (dated November 7):
I plan to use this forum as a tool to let you see some of the "behind the scenes" good work done by the men and women of the Houston Police Department … the kinds of things you aren't likely to see on the news. As you probably realize, the news media doesn't always show you the positive stories … and at HPD, there are lots of good, positive things going on. Despite the headlines, violent crime is down, and, for its size, Houston is a safe city. And there are things you can do, in partnership with HPD, to make it even safer. I encourage you to check this site periodically because I'm hoping to show you how you can help make a difference in your neighborhood and this city.
Public organizations often feel like they get shortchanged by the media, which tend to emphasize "negative" stories over "positive" ones (the notion being that HPD doing its job isn't news, but HPD screwing up is news), so the Chief has a valid complaint to some extent.
Then again, we hope the Chief -- and whatever ghostbloggers may be "helping" him -- will use the blog truly to engage Houstonians, instead of adopting another local organization's blog-model of serving up barely readable, features-style PR cheerleading. We'd love to see a true give and take from the Chief on problems such as the crime lab, staffing shortages, CompStat, broken-windows policing, downtown's out-of-control problem with vagrants, the sanctuary directive, and other issues (of course, we'd also like to see Chief Hurtt's department stop "punishing" reporters who are trying to do their jobs -- I guess we'll have to wait and see on both counts). We hope never to see a post from the Chief describing where some employees go to lunch.
BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport, Lone Star Times.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/14/07 12:40 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Sphere | Comments (11)
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