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Editorial: Outdated police log modified to meet community’s needs<br>

Beginning this week, page three of the Williams-Grand Canyon News has changed. Page three has always been one of the most popular pages in the News. Why? Because the weekly police log, gathered from reports at the Williams Police Department, appears weekly on that page.

The police log will still appear on page three, but will have a new format. Effective immediately, we are no longer going to list every single incident our local officers responded to. Williams is fortunate in that most of the calls our officers handle are not serious crimes. Alarm calls in empty businesses, loose dogs, most shoplifting incidents and routine medical response calls are not newsworthy enough items to report on.

The former, outdated police log listed the name, age and address of every person who received a citation or was arrested. Most of us have had a dog escape from the yard. It seems a little unfair that a loose dog can cause a person who has never had previous contact with law enforcement to have their name, age and home address published in the local newspaper.

We have actually had individuals who were arrested become angry at this newspaper because their name and nature of the offense appeared in the police log with no explanation of what actually led to the arrest. These individuals believed our former police log was unjust and told only one side of the story.

Victims of crimes of a non-serious nature — vandalized vehicles, mailboxes and even rearranged landscaping — have called us wishing that the offense, along with a street name, not be published for fear of retaliation. We want residents of Williams to feel comfortable contacting the WPD when these crimes occur. We would hate for a victim to not report a crime because they are afraid the crime will show up in the “who got busted” section on page three.

With the new format, more serious incidents will receive more coverage. Several paragraphs describing how an officer discovered a crime had occurred and what the suspects were actually doing that led to an arrest will appear in the police log. All drug-related offenses and driving under the influence arrests — including a blood alcohol concentration level — will still be listed.

We hope our readers find the revamped police log more valuable and newsworthy than the former one. The News supports and applauds the efforts of the WPD as the officers carry out their day-to-day duties, assuring the safety of the citizens of Williams.


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