Should police ever pose as journalists? What if lives are at stake? Should news organizations go along with the deception? What are the consequences?
The organization that represents broadcast news directors in the United States and internationally, the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA), says “law enforcement personnel should not disguise themselves as journalists and news organizations should not cooperate in such plans.”
The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) hostage negotiation unit agrees that police posing as journalists is very problematic for many reasons, and “it would be extremely rare (for the FBI) to use trickery” of that nature. But Gary Noesner, the chief of the FBI’s Crisis Negotiation Unit, says he would not rule out allowing agents to pose as journalists in extreme circumstances.
Those positions spotlight the competing professional obligations and the tensions between journalists and law enforcement personnel in the wake of two recent incidents in which police posed as news photographers to deceive gunmen holding hostages.
On June 13, police in Newark, N.J., took the television camera of a New Jersey Network cameraman and posed as a news team to try to free a 9-year-old boy held hostage by his father who had already killed two family members.
On June 1, a police sharpshooter in Luxembourg used a borrowed TV news camera and posed as a photojournalist to ambush and kill a man who was holding 25 children and three adults hostage in a day-care center.
The RTNDA passed a resolution on June 10 strongly condemning the actions of the police in Luxembourg. The resolution says, “Allowing law enforcement officials to pose as journalists could endanger journalists covering volatile situations. Reporters who attempt to open the eyes of the world to civil war, ethnic strife, and other conflicts are put at risk if they are suspected to be undercover government agents.”
While acknowledging that concern, the FBI’s Noesner says he can understand why the police in Luxembourg used the deception tactics. “If I was an officer in Luxembourg, I would think the interest of the children overwhelmed the journalists’ interests…I could see myself saying if we don’t do this, we could lose a life here.” Noesner says that if he were negotiating in that particular situation he “probably would have considered using the ruse” because of the exceptionally irrational behavior of the gunman and the highly volatile situation.
However, Noesner, who has spent 21 of his 28 years with the FBI as a negotiator, says it would be “extremely rare (for the FBI) to use trickery.”
“We don’t want to trick people. We are above board,” he says. “Trickery is occasionally successful, but if you use it over and over it can backfire on you.”
The situations in Newark, N.J., and in Luxembourg follow other incidents in recent years in which police have posed as journalists to defuse volatile situations.
Last fall, police in Denver, Colo., borrowed equipment from two Denver television stations and posed as a photographer and reporter to interview a man who had held police at bay for three hours with what turned out to be fake sticks of dynamite belted to his waist.
And there are cases in which police have posed as journalists for other purposes. In 1996 police in Gdansk, Poland used a fake TV news logo on a camera and taped a public demonstration aimed against the Prime Minister.
“For journalists to be seen as an arm of law enforcement severely undermines public trust,” says Barbara Cochran, RTNDA president, in a news release accompanying the resolution condemning the Luxembourg police.
The FBI’s Noesner says he understands that concern. “I’m sure lots of journalists are spooked by recent cases of officers posing as journalists. I would never say never (pose as a journalist) but I sure would be reluctant.” He says the situation in Denver where there were no hostages was very different from the Luxembourg situation. He also said that for the FBI to use any form of deception in these situations would require approval from the highest ranks of the FBI. “It would be inappropriate (to use trickery) just because we can.”
Noesner says law enforcement officers (and journalists) should weigh many factors if considering deception in a tactical situation. “We would weigh how irrational the hostage taker is. How volatile is the situation? What has transpired so far? What does the hostage taker’s behavior and demands say about his volatility? Is this the only defense?”
Noesner warns that many things can go wrong when police send officers into hostage situations posing as journalists. “The suspect might smell a rat. He could have knowledge about how to operate a camera and ask some questions. If the officer didn’t answer those questions knowledgeably, the situation might turn out badly.”
He says that in the very exceptional case where they might have an agent pose as a photographer, “we’d use our own cameras,” not take the equipment of news crews covering the story. Noesner says, based on two decades of dealing with hostage takers, that honesty, not deception, is the most effective strategy for resolving tactical situations involving barricaded gunmen and hostages. “We try to keep it genuine” rather than use “trickery and foolery.”
He says the role of news media might be important in resolving a volatile situation. The FBI might use access to the media “as a reward for appropriate conduct,” such as a gunman releasing hostages or agreeing to surrender. At that point, the negotiators might allow a gunman to use the media to air his concerns or demands.
But Noesner says it would be very rare for FBI negotiators to allow a journalist to meet face to face with a hostage taker or barricaded gunman. “We try to avoid introducing media into a crisis site. It’s a problem allowing anyone to go inside as a legitimate cameraman or as an (FBI) agent posing as one.”
