STOP Demonstrating How To Kill Cops!!!
Target:
News Channel 5 in Nashville, TN
Sponsored by:
Following the horrific shooting of Sgt. Mark Chesnut on June 25th, 2009 after a traffic stop turned into attempted murder of a police officer, News Channel 5 in Nashville, TN did a demonstration on television showing viewers where an officer wearing a vest can still be shot and critically or lethally injured.
Upon one of our members, who is located in Nashville, TN, saw the segment, she immediately expressed her concern to the station and was shocked at the response she received. Below are the correspondence a few of our members have had from News Channel 5 in Nashville.
"I was shocked and appalled to learn that your news channel had run a report that included information illustrating exactly where police officers were still vulnerable when wearing a bullet proof vest. How did this reporter (Amanda Hara) think she was doing a good thing by airing this information? My husband puts his life on the line every day, the last thing he needs is a reporter giving a demonstration of how better to kill him. Did no one stop to think about this? I can not believe that a news organization like yours - one that I respect and prefer over other Nashville stations - would run such an ignorant news piece. I will now be unsubscribing from the daily e-mail alerts I get from your station, and I will no longer be watching Channel 5 news. I will also be encouraging everyone I know in Nashville to do the same. This report was completely irresponsible and shows an unforgivable lack of judgment. Your station, and Ms. Hara, owes an apology to every Nashville officer they put in further danger with this report. I hope to see you issue such an apology, and I truly hope that not one officer loses his life as a result of this report." -T
"Ms. Turner,
I would like to express my outrage to the irresponsible news report your station aired showing how to mortally wound someone wearing a ballistic vest. What in the world did you hope to accomplish by doing that?!?! Are you going to do a report on bomb making for terrorists next? THAT is how disgusting and low life the segment you aired is to me. As a police wife, my biggest fear in life is sending my husband to work and having him return home to me in a casket. My 3 children and I would appreciate you to think twice about your lack of judgement and poor taste so their father and my husband can come home safely to us every day, God willing. Shame on you all.
Tracy
Proud Police Wife"
"When I saw the piece that your station aired that included ways to wound someone wearing a bullet-proof vest, I felt literally sick to my stomach. How is this news-worthy? Criminals can come up with enough ways to endanger our police officers without help from the media. My husband is a police officer, and I watch him put on his bullet-proof vest every day and pray that it keeps him safe. There are many weapons that it will not protect him against; why would your station tell people MORE ways to kill someone wearing one of these vests? An officer on my husband's shift was shot earlier this year--the two bullets that hit him happened to miss his vest. He saved a woman's life in the process; he is still recovering five months later, and is very blessed to be alive. This happens to officers all over the country every day--they are there to keep us safe, and your station has put them in even more danger. This piece was done in very poor taste and I will be telling every one that I can to express their distaste with your station.
Please give more thought to the lives you will affect with your "news" stories. -E"
News Channel 5 in Nashville, TN very obviously does NOT take our concerns seriously. All of our members who have thus far emailed the station received one or both of these two responses:
"Thank you for taking the time to express your concern.
Let me first say, I could not imagine the amount of stress and/or fear an officer's spouse endures on a daily basis, not to mention the officer.
I personally have the upmost respect for all of those men and women - across the nation - who put their lives on the line every day for citizens like myself.
The story you are talking about was an update from Vanderbilt Medical Center on Sgt. Mark Chesnut's condition. In wrapping up her live report, News Channel 5's Amanda Harra, showed a ballistics vest and talked about the fact that they do not cover every part of someone's body - which is why Sgt. Chesnut was injured. This report was not intended to give people ideas on how to injure an officer nor was it intended to show any disrespect to the thousands of officers we have serving our community.
Chief Ronal Serpas talked to members of the media - the day of the shooting - and told us why and how Sgt. Chesnut was injured. He discussed the ballistics vest at length and instead of showing Chief Serpas talking about it - our reporter Amanda showed one of the vests and discussed how something like this could have happened.
We did have a few e-mails from concerned viewers about Sgt. Chesnut asking if he was even wearing a bullet proof vest.
It is unfortunate you feel as though our reporting was irresponsible and appalling. We were sharing information the chief himself pointed out during the news conference held at Vanderbilt Medical Center.
I think I can speak for all of us here at Channel 5 when I say - we do care about our police force and we do not want to lose any more officers. We try to be sensitive when reporting information regarding police-involved shootings and we will continue to pray for Sgt. Mark Chesnut and his family.
Thank you again for your e-mail.
Sincerely,
Kristin Priesol
News Channel 5"
"Thank you for taking the time to write. I assure you we would never do anything to intentionally endanger the lives of our officers. We have a great relationship with Metro police & in fact, they were aware of the story we were doing. Our goal was to try and explain to viewers why Sgt. Chesnut was so seriously injured even though he was wearing the proper protective equipment. The current equipment simply isn%u2019t good enough for the men and women who put their lives on the line for us. I will take a look at your video %u2013 thanks for bringing it to my attention. Again, I apologize if you were upset by the story %u2013 that was certainly not our intention.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts %u2013 I always appreciate getting feedback from viewers.
Michelle Bonnett
Assistant News Director
WTVF-TV - NewsChannel 5
474 James Robertson Pkwy
Nashville, TN 37219
615.248.5371
www.newschannel5.com"
Convinced that our concerns were not being taken seriously, our President, Angel, emailed the station as well:
"My name is Angel, and I am the President of PoliceWives.Org, a national support group for the families of Law Enforcement Officers. I am writing today in regards to your station's responses to my members concerns.
Since your story ran I have received more emails from members then I can possibly respond to. And when my members posted your station's responses to their concerns, those emails doubled.
Although I understand that the information given was in regards to how the vest does not completely protect, your stance is still beyond insensitive. It does not matter where you received your information, anyone who loves an officer lives with the knowledge they are not totally protected, these are the things that keep us up at night. But by giving viewers a how to on the best ways to kill an officer, well you should be ashamed of yourself.
If a bomb went off, you might report basics on how it was accomplished. But would you post instructions on how to build a bomb, or where to place it to maximize damage? No, you would not. If you truly supported Law Enforcement, instead of placing blame and saying "well they told us how this could happen," you would have reported on how these officers need better protection, better vests, more funding; you would not have given the public a how to on how to kill an officer.
Instead of admitting you made a poor choice, you chose to place blame. Did Chief Serpas know you were going to use the information you were given in the way that you did? If so, your viewers would love to see you follow up with him on his opinions of the outrage of your viewers, local and nationwide.
One thing I have learned in life is that we are all human, and we all make mistakes. It%u2019s how we handle those mistakes that show our integrity. Your responses have definitely shown yours. While you may shrug this off now and make excuses, I can guarantee if/when the day comes an officer is injured or killed due to your carelessness you will sing a different tune. Especially when the family of said officer sues your station for your negligence and has the backing and power of several national organizations behind them helping them do so. We hope this day never comes, we pray it never comes. But if it does, you can bet we will be there."
And the response she received further indicated that the channel does not believe they did anything wrong, nor will they apologize or say they won't do such a thing again!
"It is unfortunate you feel this way. I believe you misinterpreted our report. I am not making excuses, I am not placing blame on Chief Serpas. I was mentioning where we got our information.
We did not broadcast a segment on "How to kill a police officer".
Again, it was an update on Sgt. Mark Chesnut's condition - with an explanation of how something like this could happen.
Sincerely,
Kristin Priesol
News Channel 5"
Please join us in telling this news station that it is UNACCEPTABLE to air a demonstration on how to best kill a cop who is wearing a ballistics vest! Below is the contact info for the station. Please take a minute to send them an email making them aware that these stories are appalling and we will not allow this to happen, in addition to signing this petition.
THANK YOU, from Police Wives Inc!
News: Sandy Boonstra, News Director--
sboonstra@newschannel5.com
Entertainment Programing: Mark Binda, Programming Director--
markb@newschannel5.com
NewsChannel 5 : Brian Bates, Executive Director--
bbates@newschannel5.com
NewsChannel5.com: Jared Turner, Internet Manager Editor--
jturner@newschannel5.com
Engineering: Gibson Prichard--
gprichard@newschannel5.com
Sales: Natalie Ryman, Sales Manager--
nryman@newschannel5.com
Debbie Turner, General Manager--
dturner@newschannel5.com
Upon one of our members, who is located in Nashville, TN, saw the segment, she immediately expressed her concern to the station and was shocked at the response she received. Below are the correspondence a few of our members have had from News Channel 5 in Nashville.
"I was shocked and appalled to learn that your news channel had run a report that included information illustrating exactly where police officers were still vulnerable when wearing a bullet proof vest. How did this reporter (Amanda Hara) think she was doing a good thing by airing this information? My husband puts his life on the line every day, the last thing he needs is a reporter giving a demonstration of how better to kill him. Did no one stop to think about this? I can not believe that a news organization like yours - one that I respect and prefer over other Nashville stations - would run such an ignorant news piece. I will now be unsubscribing from the daily e-mail alerts I get from your station, and I will no longer be watching Channel 5 news. I will also be encouraging everyone I know in Nashville to do the same. This report was completely irresponsible and shows an unforgivable lack of judgment. Your station, and Ms. Hara, owes an apology to every Nashville officer they put in further danger with this report. I hope to see you issue such an apology, and I truly hope that not one officer loses his life as a result of this report." -T
"Ms. Turner,
I would like to express my outrage to the irresponsible news report your station aired showing how to mortally wound someone wearing a ballistic vest. What in the world did you hope to accomplish by doing that?!?! Are you going to do a report on bomb making for terrorists next? THAT is how disgusting and low life the segment you aired is to me. As a police wife, my biggest fear in life is sending my husband to work and having him return home to me in a casket. My 3 children and I would appreciate you to think twice about your lack of judgement and poor taste so their father and my husband can come home safely to us every day, God willing. Shame on you all.
Tracy
Proud Police Wife"
"When I saw the piece that your station aired that included ways to wound someone wearing a bullet-proof vest, I felt literally sick to my stomach. How is this news-worthy? Criminals can come up with enough ways to endanger our police officers without help from the media. My husband is a police officer, and I watch him put on his bullet-proof vest every day and pray that it keeps him safe. There are many weapons that it will not protect him against; why would your station tell people MORE ways to kill someone wearing one of these vests? An officer on my husband's shift was shot earlier this year--the two bullets that hit him happened to miss his vest. He saved a woman's life in the process; he is still recovering five months later, and is very blessed to be alive. This happens to officers all over the country every day--they are there to keep us safe, and your station has put them in even more danger. This piece was done in very poor taste and I will be telling every one that I can to express their distaste with your station.
Please give more thought to the lives you will affect with your "news" stories. -E"
News Channel 5 in Nashville, TN very obviously does NOT take our concerns seriously. All of our members who have thus far emailed the station received one or both of these two responses:
"Thank you for taking the time to express your concern.
Let me first say, I could not imagine the amount of stress and/or fear an officer's spouse endures on a daily basis, not to mention the officer.
I personally have the upmost respect for all of those men and women - across the nation - who put their lives on the line every day for citizens like myself.
The story you are talking about was an update from Vanderbilt Medical Center on Sgt. Mark Chesnut's condition. In wrapping up her live report, News Channel 5's Amanda Harra, showed a ballistics vest and talked about the fact that they do not cover every part of someone's body - which is why Sgt. Chesnut was injured. This report was not intended to give people ideas on how to injure an officer nor was it intended to show any disrespect to the thousands of officers we have serving our community.
Chief Ronal Serpas talked to members of the media - the day of the shooting - and told us why and how Sgt. Chesnut was injured. He discussed the ballistics vest at length and instead of showing Chief Serpas talking about it - our reporter Amanda showed one of the vests and discussed how something like this could have happened.
We did have a few e-mails from concerned viewers about Sgt. Chesnut asking if he was even wearing a bullet proof vest.
It is unfortunate you feel as though our reporting was irresponsible and appalling. We were sharing information the chief himself pointed out during the news conference held at Vanderbilt Medical Center.
I think I can speak for all of us here at Channel 5 when I say - we do care about our police force and we do not want to lose any more officers. We try to be sensitive when reporting information regarding police-involved shootings and we will continue to pray for Sgt. Mark Chesnut and his family.
Thank you again for your e-mail.
Sincerely,
Kristin Priesol
News Channel 5"
"Thank you for taking the time to write. I assure you we would never do anything to intentionally endanger the lives of our officers. We have a great relationship with Metro police & in fact, they were aware of the story we were doing. Our goal was to try and explain to viewers why Sgt. Chesnut was so seriously injured even though he was wearing the proper protective equipment. The current equipment simply isn%u2019t good enough for the men and women who put their lives on the line for us. I will take a look at your video %u2013 thanks for bringing it to my attention. Again, I apologize if you were upset by the story %u2013 that was certainly not our intention.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts %u2013 I always appreciate getting feedback from viewers.
Michelle Bonnett
Assistant News Director
WTVF-TV - NewsChannel 5
474 James Robertson Pkwy
Nashville, TN 37219
615.248.5371
www.newschannel5.com"
Convinced that our concerns were not being taken seriously, our President, Angel, emailed the station as well:
"My name is Angel, and I am the President of PoliceWives.Org, a national support group for the families of Law Enforcement Officers. I am writing today in regards to your station's responses to my members concerns.
Since your story ran I have received more emails from members then I can possibly respond to. And when my members posted your station's responses to their concerns, those emails doubled.
Although I understand that the information given was in regards to how the vest does not completely protect, your stance is still beyond insensitive. It does not matter where you received your information, anyone who loves an officer lives with the knowledge they are not totally protected, these are the things that keep us up at night. But by giving viewers a how to on the best ways to kill an officer, well you should be ashamed of yourself.
If a bomb went off, you might report basics on how it was accomplished. But would you post instructions on how to build a bomb, or where to place it to maximize damage? No, you would not. If you truly supported Law Enforcement, instead of placing blame and saying "well they told us how this could happen," you would have reported on how these officers need better protection, better vests, more funding; you would not have given the public a how to on how to kill an officer.
Instead of admitting you made a poor choice, you chose to place blame. Did Chief Serpas know you were going to use the information you were given in the way that you did? If so, your viewers would love to see you follow up with him on his opinions of the outrage of your viewers, local and nationwide.
One thing I have learned in life is that we are all human, and we all make mistakes. It%u2019s how we handle those mistakes that show our integrity. Your responses have definitely shown yours. While you may shrug this off now and make excuses, I can guarantee if/when the day comes an officer is injured or killed due to your carelessness you will sing a different tune. Especially when the family of said officer sues your station for your negligence and has the backing and power of several national organizations behind them helping them do so. We hope this day never comes, we pray it never comes. But if it does, you can bet we will be there."
And the response she received further indicated that the channel does not believe they did anything wrong, nor will they apologize or say they won't do such a thing again!
"It is unfortunate you feel this way. I believe you misinterpreted our report. I am not making excuses, I am not placing blame on Chief Serpas. I was mentioning where we got our information.
We did not broadcast a segment on "How to kill a police officer".
Again, it was an update on Sgt. Mark Chesnut's condition - with an explanation of how something like this could happen.
Sincerely,
Kristin Priesol
News Channel 5"
Please join us in telling this news station that it is UNACCEPTABLE to air a demonstration on how to best kill a cop who is wearing a ballistics vest! Below is the contact info for the station. Please take a minute to send them an email making them aware that these stories are appalling and we will not allow this to happen, in addition to signing this petition.
THANK YOU, from Police Wives Inc!
News: Sandy Boonstra, News Director--
sboonstra@newschannel5.com
Entertainment Programing: Mark Binda, Programming Director--
markb@newschannel5.com
NewsChannel 5 : Brian Bates, Executive Director--
bbates@newschannel5.com
NewsChannel5.com: Jared Turner, Internet Manager Editor--
jturner@newschannel5.com
Engineering: Gibson Prichard--
gprichard@newschannel5.com
Sales: Natalie Ryman, Sales Manager--
nryman@newschannel5.com
Debbie Turner, General Manager--
dturner@newschannel5.com
Following the horrific shooting of Sgt. Mark Chesnut on June 25th, 2009 after a traffic stop turned into attempted murder of a police officer, News Channel 5 in Nashville, TN did a demonstration on television showing viewers where an officer wearing a vest can still be shot and critically or lethally injured.
Upon one of our members, who is located in Nashville, TN, saw the segment, she immediately expressed her concern to the station and was shocked at the response she received. Below are the correspondence a few of our members have had from News Channel 5 in Nashville.
"I was shocked and appalled to learn that your news channel had run a report that included information illustrating exactly where police officers were still vulnerable when wearing a bullet proof vest. How did this reporter (Amanda Hara) think she was doing a good thing by airing this information? My husband puts his life on the line every day, the last thing he needs is a reporter giving a demonstration of how better to kill him. Did no one stop to think about this? I can not believe that a news organization like yours - one that I respect and prefer over other Nashville stations - would run such an ignorant news piece. I will now be unsubscribing from the daily e-mail alerts I get from your station, and I will no longer be watching Channel 5 news. I will also be encouraging everyone I know in Nashville to do the same. This report was completely irresponsible and shows an unforgivable lack of judgment. Your station, and Ms. Hara, owes an apology to every Nashville officer they put in further danger with this report. I hope to see you issue such an apology, and I truly hope that not one officer loses his life as a result of this report." -T
"Ms. Turner,
I would like to express my outrage to the irresponsible news report your station aired showing how to mortally wound someone wearing a ballistic vest. What in the world did you hope to accomplish by doing that?!?! Are you going to do a report on bomb making for terrorists next? THAT is how disgusting and low life the segment you aired is to me. As a police wife, my biggest fear in life is sending my husband to work and having him return home to me in a casket. My 3 children and I would appreciate you to think twice about your lack of judgement and poor taste so their father and my husband can come home safely to us every day, God willing. Shame on you all.
Tracy
Proud Police Wife"
"When I saw the piece that your station aired that included ways to wound someone wearing a bullet-proof vest, I felt literally sick to my stomach. How is this news-worthy? Criminals can come up with enough ways to endanger our police officers without help from the media. My husband is a police officer, and I watch him put on his bullet-proof vest every day and pray that it keeps him safe. There are many weapons that it will not protect him against; why would your station tell people MORE ways to kill someone wearing one of these vests? An officer on my husband's shift was shot earlier this year--the two bullets that hit him happened to miss his vest. He saved a woman's life in the process; he is still recovering five months later, and is very blessed to be alive. This happens to officers all over the country every day--they are there to keep us safe, and your station has put them in even more danger. This piece was done in very poor taste and I will be telling every one that I can to express their distaste with your station.
Please give more thought to the lives you will affect with your "news" stories. -E"
News Channel 5 in Nashville, TN very obviously does NOT take our concerns seriously. All of our members who have thus far emailed the station received one or both of these two responses:
"Thank you for taking the time to express your concern.
Let me first say, I could not imagine the amount of stress and/or fear an officer's spouse endures on a daily basis, not to mention the officer.
I personally have the upmost respect for all of those men and women - across the nation - who put their lives on the line every day for citizens like myself.
The story you are talking about was an update from Vanderbilt Medical Center on Sgt. Mark Chesnut's condition. In wrapping up her live report, News Channel 5's Amanda Harra, showed a ballistics vest and talked about the fact that they do not cover every part of someone's body - which is why Sgt. Chesnut was injured. This report was not intended to give people ideas on how to injure an officer nor was it intended to show any disrespect to the thousands of officers we have serving our community.
Chief Ronal Serpas talked to members of the media - the day of the shooting - and told us why and how Sgt. Chesnut was injured. He discussed the ballistics vest at length and instead of showing Chief Serpas talking about it - our reporter Amanda showed one of the vests and discussed how something like this could have happened.
We did have a few e-mails from concerned viewers about Sgt. Chesnut asking if he was even wearing a bullet proof vest.
It is unfortunate you feel as though our reporting was irresponsible and appalling. We were sharing information the chief himself pointed out during the news conference held at Vanderbilt Medical Center.
I think I can speak for all of us here at Channel 5 when I say - we do care about our police force and we do not want to lose any more officers. We try to be sensitive when reporting information regarding police-involved shootings and we will continue to pray for Sgt. Mark Chesnut and his family.
Thank you again for your e-mail.
Sincerely,
Kristin Priesol
News Channel 5"
"Thank you for taking the time to write. I assure you we would never do anything to intentionally endanger the lives of our officers. We have a great relationship with Metro police & in fact, they were aware of the story we were doing. Our goal was to try and explain to viewers why Sgt. Chesnut was so seriously injured even though he was wearing the proper protective equipment. The current equipment simply isn%u2019t good enough for the men and women who put their lives on the line for us. I will take a look at your video %u2013 thanks for bringing it to my attention. Again, I apologize if you were upset by the story %u2013 that was certainly not our intention.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts %u2013 I always appreciate getting feedback from viewers.
Michelle Bonnett
Assistant News Director
WTVF-TV - NewsChannel 5
474 James Robertson Pkwy
Nashville, TN 37219
615.248.5371
www.newschannel5.com"
Convinced that our concerns were not being taken seriously, our President, Angel, emailed the station as well:
"My name is Angel, and I am the President of PoliceWives.Org, a national support group for the families of Law Enforcement Officers. I am writing today in regards to your station's responses to my members concerns.
Since your story ran I have received more emails from members then I can possibly respond to. And when my members posted your station's responses to their concerns, those emails doubled.
Although I understand that the information given was in regards to how the vest does not completely protect, your stance is still beyond insensitive. It does not matter where you received your information, anyone who loves an officer lives with the knowledge they are not totally protected, these are the things that keep us up at night. But by giving viewers a how to on the best ways to kill an officer, well you should be ashamed of yourself.
If a bomb went off, you might report basics on how it was accomplished. But would you post instructions on how to build a bomb, or where to place it to maximize damage? No, you would not. If you truly supported Law Enforcement, instead of placing blame and saying "well they told us how this could happen," you would have reported on how these officers need better protection, better vests, more funding; you would not have given the public a how to on how to kill an officer.
Instead of admitting you made a poor choice, you chose to place blame. Did Chief Serpas know you were going to use the information you were given in the way that you did? If so, your viewers would love to see you follow up with him on his opinions of the outrage of your viewers, local and nationwide.
One thing I have learned in life is that we are all human, and we all make mistakes. It%u2019s how we handle those mistakes that show our integrity. Your responses have definitely shown yours. While you may shrug this off now and make excuses, I can guarantee if/when the day comes an officer is injured or killed due to your carelessness you will sing a different tune. Especially when the family of said officer sues your station for your negligence and has the backing and power of several national organizations behind them helping them do so. We hope this day never comes, we pray it never comes. But if it does, you can bet we will be there."
And the response she received further indicated that the channel does not believe they did anything wrong, nor will they apologize or say they won't do such a thing again!
"It is unfortunate you feel this way. I believe you misinterpreted our report. I am not making excuses, I am not placing blame on Chief Serpas. I was mentioning where we got our information.
We did not broadcast a segment on "How to kill a police officer".
Again, it was an update on Sgt. Mark Chesnut's condition - with an explanation of how something like this could happen.
Sincerely,
Kristin Priesol
News Channel 5"
Please join us in telling this news station that it is UNACCEPTABLE to air a demonstration on how to best kill a cop who is wearing a ballistics vest! Below is the contact info for the station. Please take a minute to send them an email making them aware that these stories are appalling and we will not allow this to happen, in addition to signing this petition.
THANK YOU, from Police Wives Inc!
News: Sandy Boonstra, News Director--
sboonstra@newschannel5.com
Entertainment Programing: Mark Binda, Programming Director--
markb@newschannel5.com
NewsChannel 5 : Brian Bates, Executive Director--
bbates@newschannel5.com
NewsChannel5.com: Jared Turner, Internet Manager Editor--
jturner@newschannel5.com
Engineering: Gibson Prichard--
gprichard@newschannel5.com
Sales: Natalie Ryman, Sales Manager--
nryman@newschannel5.com
Debbie Turner, General Manager--
dturner@newschannel5.com
Upon one of our members, who is located in Nashville, TN, saw the segment, she immediately expressed her concern to the station and was shocked at the response she received. Below are the correspondence a few of our members have had from News Channel 5 in Nashville.
"I was shocked and appalled to learn that your news channel had run a report that included information illustrating exactly where police officers were still vulnerable when wearing a bullet proof vest. How did this reporter (Amanda Hara) think she was doing a good thing by airing this information? My husband puts his life on the line every day, the last thing he needs is a reporter giving a demonstration of how better to kill him. Did no one stop to think about this? I can not believe that a news organization like yours - one that I respect and prefer over other Nashville stations - would run such an ignorant news piece. I will now be unsubscribing from the daily e-mail alerts I get from your station, and I will no longer be watching Channel 5 news. I will also be encouraging everyone I know in Nashville to do the same. This report was completely irresponsible and shows an unforgivable lack of judgment. Your station, and Ms. Hara, owes an apology to every Nashville officer they put in further danger with this report. I hope to see you issue such an apology, and I truly hope that not one officer loses his life as a result of this report." -T
"Ms. Turner,
I would like to express my outrage to the irresponsible news report your station aired showing how to mortally wound someone wearing a ballistic vest. What in the world did you hope to accomplish by doing that?!?! Are you going to do a report on bomb making for terrorists next? THAT is how disgusting and low life the segment you aired is to me. As a police wife, my biggest fear in life is sending my husband to work and having him return home to me in a casket. My 3 children and I would appreciate you to think twice about your lack of judgement and poor taste so their father and my husband can come home safely to us every day, God willing. Shame on you all.
Tracy
Proud Police Wife"
"When I saw the piece that your station aired that included ways to wound someone wearing a bullet-proof vest, I felt literally sick to my stomach. How is this news-worthy? Criminals can come up with enough ways to endanger our police officers without help from the media. My husband is a police officer, and I watch him put on his bullet-proof vest every day and pray that it keeps him safe. There are many weapons that it will not protect him against; why would your station tell people MORE ways to kill someone wearing one of these vests? An officer on my husband's shift was shot earlier this year--the two bullets that hit him happened to miss his vest. He saved a woman's life in the process; he is still recovering five months later, and is very blessed to be alive. This happens to officers all over the country every day--they are there to keep us safe, and your station has put them in even more danger. This piece was done in very poor taste and I will be telling every one that I can to express their distaste with your station.
Please give more thought to the lives you will affect with your "news" stories. -E"
News Channel 5 in Nashville, TN very obviously does NOT take our concerns seriously. All of our members who have thus far emailed the station received one or both of these two responses:
"Thank you for taking the time to express your concern.
Let me first say, I could not imagine the amount of stress and/or fear an officer's spouse endures on a daily basis, not to mention the officer.
I personally have the upmost respect for all of those men and women - across the nation - who put their lives on the line every day for citizens like myself.
The story you are talking about was an update from Vanderbilt Medical Center on Sgt. Mark Chesnut's condition. In wrapping up her live report, News Channel 5's Amanda Harra, showed a ballistics vest and talked about the fact that they do not cover every part of someone's body - which is why Sgt. Chesnut was injured. This report was not intended to give people ideas on how to injure an officer nor was it intended to show any disrespect to the thousands of officers we have serving our community.
Chief Ronal Serpas talked to members of the media - the day of the shooting - and told us why and how Sgt. Chesnut was injured. He discussed the ballistics vest at length and instead of showing Chief Serpas talking about it - our reporter Amanda showed one of the vests and discussed how something like this could have happened.
We did have a few e-mails from concerned viewers about Sgt. Chesnut asking if he was even wearing a bullet proof vest.
It is unfortunate you feel as though our reporting was irresponsible and appalling. We were sharing information the chief himself pointed out during the news conference held at Vanderbilt Medical Center.
I think I can speak for all of us here at Channel 5 when I say - we do care about our police force and we do not want to lose any more officers. We try to be sensitive when reporting information regarding police-involved shootings and we will continue to pray for Sgt. Mark Chesnut and his family.
Thank you again for your e-mail.
Sincerely,
Kristin Priesol
News Channel 5"
"Thank you for taking the time to write. I assure you we would never do anything to intentionally endanger the lives of our officers. We have a great relationship with Metro police & in fact, they were aware of the story we were doing. Our goal was to try and explain to viewers why Sgt. Chesnut was so seriously injured even though he was wearing the proper protective equipment. The current equipment simply isn%u2019t good enough for the men and women who put their lives on the line for us. I will take a look at your video %u2013 thanks for bringing it to my attention. Again, I apologize if you were upset by the story %u2013 that was certainly not our intention.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts %u2013 I always appreciate getting feedback from viewers.
Michelle Bonnett
Assistant News Director
WTVF-TV - NewsChannel 5
474 James Robertson Pkwy
Nashville, TN 37219
615.248.5371
www.newschannel5.com"
Convinced that our concerns were not being taken seriously, our President, Angel, emailed the station as well:
"My name is Angel, and I am the President of PoliceWives.Org, a national support group for the families of Law Enforcement Officers. I am writing today in regards to your station's responses to my members concerns.
Since your story ran I have received more emails from members then I can possibly respond to. And when my members posted your station's responses to their concerns, those emails doubled.
Although I understand that the information given was in regards to how the vest does not completely protect, your stance is still beyond insensitive. It does not matter where you received your information, anyone who loves an officer lives with the knowledge they are not totally protected, these are the things that keep us up at night. But by giving viewers a how to on the best ways to kill an officer, well you should be ashamed of yourself.
If a bomb went off, you might report basics on how it was accomplished. But would you post instructions on how to build a bomb, or where to place it to maximize damage? No, you would not. If you truly supported Law Enforcement, instead of placing blame and saying "well they told us how this could happen," you would have reported on how these officers need better protection, better vests, more funding; you would not have given the public a how to on how to kill an officer.
Instead of admitting you made a poor choice, you chose to place blame. Did Chief Serpas know you were going to use the information you were given in the way that you did? If so, your viewers would love to see you follow up with him on his opinions of the outrage of your viewers, local and nationwide.
One thing I have learned in life is that we are all human, and we all make mistakes. It%u2019s how we handle those mistakes that show our integrity. Your responses have definitely shown yours. While you may shrug this off now and make excuses, I can guarantee if/when the day comes an officer is injured or killed due to your carelessness you will sing a different tune. Especially when the family of said officer sues your station for your negligence and has the backing and power of several national organizations behind them helping them do so. We hope this day never comes, we pray it never comes. But if it does, you can bet we will be there."
And the response she received further indicated that the channel does not believe they did anything wrong, nor will they apologize or say they won't do such a thing again!
"It is unfortunate you feel this way. I believe you misinterpreted our report. I am not making excuses, I am not placing blame on Chief Serpas. I was mentioning where we got our information.
We did not broadcast a segment on "How to kill a police officer".
Again, it was an update on Sgt. Mark Chesnut's condition - with an explanation of how something like this could happen.
Sincerely,
Kristin Priesol
News Channel 5"
Please join us in telling this news station that it is UNACCEPTABLE to air a demonstration on how to best kill a cop who is wearing a ballistics vest! Below is the contact info for the station. Please take a minute to send them an email making them aware that these stories are appalling and we will not allow this to happen, in addition to signing this petition.
THANK YOU, from Police Wives Inc!
News: Sandy Boonstra, News Director--
sboonstra@newschannel5.com
Entertainment Programing: Mark Binda, Programming Director--
markb@newschannel5.com
NewsChannel 5 : Brian Bates, Executive Director--
bbates@newschannel5.com
NewsChannel5.com: Jared Turner, Internet Manager Editor--
jturner@newschannel5.com
Engineering: Gibson Prichard--
gprichard@newschannel5.com
Sales: Natalie Ryman, Sales Manager--
nryman@newschannel5.com
Debbie Turner, General Manager--
dturner@newschannel5.com
News Channel 5 in Nashville, TN:
Here is a petition signed by those who are appalled by your story teaching people how to critically or fatally wound an officer wearing a bullet proof vest. Take this as an indication of our view on your methods of reporting and apologize to those you have placed in even more danger than they were already in every single day.
Here is a petition signed by those who are appalled by your story teaching people how to critically or fatally wound an officer wearing a bullet proof vest. Take this as an indication of our view on your methods of reporting and apologize to those you have placed in even more danger than they were already in every single day.
We signed the "STOP Demonstrating How To Kill Cops!!!" petition!
# 294:
9:32 am PST, Nov 24,
Barbara Brown, Florida
All our media is just like that. All you have to do is turn on the TV and watch all our secrets are out there. Shows that show how to KILL, shows that show all our defense equipment, shows that show our most powerful guns and tanks. Shows that show how to make bombs. The whole thing is immoral. Isn't there enough crime and violence out there? Anywhere you go on the internet, it will give you instructions on how to make or build something that is destructive or maybe even kill the next person that happens to get in the way...These instructions need to be taken off the internet and should never be able to "send off" in the mail for instructions either. It's a shame that the media wants to keep showing that segment and that calls for the higher ups from that certain station to step back and take a look at the larger picture here.
All our media is just like that. All you have to do is turn on the TV and watch all our secrets are out there. Shows that show how to KILL, shows that show all our defense equipment, shows that show our most powerful guns and tanks. Shows that show how to make bombs. The whole thing is immoral. Isn't there enough crime and violence out there? Anywhere you go on the internet, it will give you instructions on how to make or build something that is destructive or maybe even kill the next person that happens to get in the way...These instructions need to be taken off the internet and should never be able to "send off" in the mail for instructions either. It's a shame that the media wants to keep showing that segment and that calls for the higher ups from that certain station to step back and take a look at the larger picture here.
# 293:
5:22 pm PST, Nov 16,
Eugene Donohue, New Jersey
I haven't seen the piece myself - but if it is true that the vulerability of wearing a bullet-proof vest was highlighted, it shows tremendous irresponsibility on the part of the network. On the other hand, maybe it was an informative piece on how better to protect those that put their lives on the line daily by exposing the weakness. Regardless, more tact should've been considered.
I haven't seen the piece myself - but if it is true that the vulerability of wearing a bullet-proof vest was highlighted, it shows tremendous irresponsibility on the part of the network. On the other hand, maybe it was an informative piece on how better to protect those that put their lives on the line daily by exposing the weakness. Regardless, more tact should've been considered.
# 292:
|
1:14 pm PDT, Oct 5,
Victoria Mary Stong CivilRights Activist, New York
If the footage was unintential then there should not be much scrutiny. I sign this to prevent other hostility or jeopardizing of our wonderful, professional and ethical Police Officers worldwide. I want all God's creatures to be safe from harm. Sometimes people do harmful things without realizing the consequences. I hope this petition will force more TV Stations to be careful not to jeopardize the lives of those that risk their lives to keep us safe.~~~~~~~Respectfully and Sincerely, Ms. Victoria Mary Stong / Former Auxiliary Police Officer from the 17th Precinct and Family Member of 4 Police Personnel.P.S. This photo is of Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, I and Mayor Bloomberg - The only Mayor to close (6) Firehouses in New York City! |
# 291:
9:54 am PDT, Oct 4,
United States Security Consultants, South Carolina
# 290:
6:46 am PDT, Oct 3,
Cops are evil Cops are less than human, Delaware
I've met one cop that was honest so indiscriminate killing of cops may not be good but the odds are that if you do, at least 99 of the cops killed out of a hundred deserved it.
I've met one cop that was honest so indiscriminate killing of cops may not be good but the odds are that if you do, at least 99 of the cops killed out of a hundred deserved it.
# 289:
5:53 pm PDT, Sep 7,
Terry Lawler, Georgia
I think it is morrally irresponsible to post this.It is infact saying that you condone this type of behavior.My son is an officer of the law.I do not wish for anyone to have information that would indanger his life or the life of anyone.Shame on you
I think it is morrally irresponsible to post this.It is infact saying that you condone this type of behavior.My son is an officer of the law.I do not wish for anyone to have information that would indanger his life or the life of anyone.Shame on you
# 288:
2:13 pm PDT, Aug 26,
Name not displayed, Finland
# 287:
10:32 pm PDT, Aug 23,
James Williams, Oregon
# 286:
4:38 pm PDT, Aug 12,
Killacop Theyarethugswithbadges, Alabama
Please sign our petition and take a minute to email those at News Channel 5 in Nashville, TN telling them it is NOT ok to broadcast how to critically or fatally wound a law enforcement officer wearing a ballistics vest.
Please sign our petition and take a minute to email those at News Channel 5 in Nashville, TN telling them it is NOT ok to broadcast how to critically or fatally wound a law enforcement officer wearing a ballistics vest.
# 285:
7:44 am PDT, Aug 9,
Angela Reising, Georgia
# 284:
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8:42 am PDT, Jul 31,
George Jordan, Texas
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# 283:
1:53 pm PDT, Jul 30,
Phuc Wad, Wisconsin
Cops deserve to get shot in the face. Bravo to anyone who supports the killing of our facist overlords.
Cops deserve to get shot in the face. Bravo to anyone who supports the killing of our facist overlords.
# 282:
9:41 am PDT, Jul 28,
Bob Fikar, New York
# 281:
10:23 am PDT, Jul 27,
Debbie Wright, Georgia
# 280:
8:45 pm PDT, Jul 26,
Brenda Sellers, Missouri
# 279:
10:51 am PDT, Jul 25,
Ricardo machado Downey,ca, California
# 278:
9:23 am PDT, Jul 23,
Timothy Wayant, Missouri
# 277:
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9:37 am PDT, Jul 22,
Matthew Tripp, South Carolina
The wheel of Buddhist terms poster tinyurl.com/5atfhh Velcro modular wall mural game. Doctoral dissertation for philosophy, title: The Interpenetration of Buddhist Practice and Classroom Teaching. Technocracy Ethics USA censorship Chinese military intelligence genius clones tinyurl.com/l6pfac PARASITIC SPECIES INFESTATION alien robot telescope spaceship: audiobook getting things done (GTD is the tag), the first few tracks of PALE BLUE DOT are good, as we transition 2 a knowledge based global society outdoor living spaces with education automation like home automation; 5 or 10 soundproof sleep chambers in one bedroom; with temperature control and touch screen web interphase, alarm brings up the lights slowly to simulate sunrise before softly audible sounds slowly increase volume to wake you up gently inspiring quotes as computing power increases exponentially and ubiquitous web enabled sensors allow 4 immersion in context relevant buddhist or ethics perspective, national broadband plan dharmaprinting.com augmented reality sociology subject index and table of contents Chinese military intelligence genius clones life energy word abacus sustainability transmission measurement context mapping twitter.com/globalcide is me Google for EXTINCTCULTURE please let me know what you think about this topic computer.org/pervasive (FOLDING@HOME + BIONIC software, engineering 450 million new species to make deserts habitable or telepathic ecosystem maintenance) autodesk inventor prototyping software for genetics use the audio book list on audibles.com to build course of life coaching training young orphan people to be CIA certified ethical hackers download free at nowtorrents.com {free antivirus/malware + reviews @ download.com} because if the current post world war 2 education system was meant to produce factory workers (not critical thinking curriculum video from best teacher nationally then teachers answer questions and do research while the kids watch, pause for Q+A, the videos podshifter software for iTunesU ) how much worse is this continuation of using the bible koran instead of critical mass ecosystem dynamics physics logistics? google for flashcard database subliminal education psychological profiling HDTV prenhall.com/dabbagh MIT OCW designing your life. The art of war flashcard deck, wikipedia article audiobook the 48 laws of power... RAW stem cells movies: Eagle EYE, Minority Report, (gps and audio recording + all video survelance to DVR on web for all probation and parole ankle monitors, put more people on them and use software to monitor them, the probation or parolee pays for the ankle monitor and then gives it back to the probation office then the next probation pays for it again, thus buying another one) broadcom is makeing new version of these chips every two months now GPS + Bluetooth + WiFi + FM combo chip) audio + video security DVR in juvinile prisons with audiobooks streaming leave the headphones you buy behind for the next inmate lifehack.org/articles/productivity/the-ultimate-student-resource-list.html selfmadescholar.com/b/self-education-resource-list GET A GENERIC MP4 PLAYER FROM PRICEWATCH.COM OR SHOPZILLA.COM OR GOOGLE PRODUCT SEARCH oedb.org/library/beginning-online-learning/100-ways-to-use-your-ipod-to-learn-and-study-better lifehack.org/articles/productivity/the-80-best-lifehacks-of-2008.html lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/in-uncertain-times-prepare-yourself-for-new-opportunities.html Interactive Video Object Manipulation: vimeo.com/2345579 web 2.0 directories: ziipa.com and go2web20.net USE THE TAGS cloud, also lifehacker.com and lifehack.org SHARE 99ebooks.blogspot.com via: care2.com/click2donate + thehungersite.com and gizmodo.com/tag/ecomodo click every tab every day with iMacro, smarterfox, delicious, colorful tabs, TOOMANYTABS, WebMynd extensions for the new firefox 3.5 browser Ccleaner youtube.com/homeproject Block Posters Makes a Large Poster from Any Image, send this to every school and buddhist center in the world but translate message first. bbb mmm zzz aaa |
# 276:
2:15 am PDT, Jul 22,
Steve Negrete, Iowa
Unacceptable abuse of the media in my opinion. What is the point of showing this?
Unacceptable abuse of the media in my opinion. What is the point of showing this?
# 275:
2:30 pm PDT, Jul 21,
Name not displayed, Arizona
# 274:
10:30 pm PDT, Jul 20,
Tremaine Jackson, Arizona
# 273:
7:34 pm PDT, Jul 20,
Jennifer Della Sala, New Jersey
# 272:
5:32 am PDT, Jul 20,
Kat Smith, South Carolina
# 271:
7:44 am PDT, Jul 19,
Karen Evans, New Mexico
# 270:
12:05 pm PDT, Jul 18,
Mary Ann Kellenberger, Georgia
# 269:
1:13 am PDT, Jul 18,
William Evans, Florida
As an Ex Law enforcement Officer and a 22 year veteran of the Army I can say that I am appalled at this kind of story. You are a traitor to the men and women whom put there lives on the line every day of the year serving you. They are out there at night, in the rain, on holidays doing what keeping you safe. And you and your station feel the need to inform the ones whom want to kill them how to do this. I won’t tell you what I would like to due to the fact that the ones you have set up would have to rescue you and possibly get hurt with you how to guide. I hope every time you look in the mirror you like what you see, I also hope that you and your station get zero ratings this is the way the people of your area can show you that you SUCK. That was hard to keep clean. But I think you and your bosses will get the message. William S. Evans
As an Ex Law enforcement Officer and a 22 year veteran of the Army I can say that I am appalled at this kind of story. You are a traitor to the men and women whom put there lives on the line every day of the year serving you. They are out there at night, in the rain, on holidays doing what keeping you safe. And you and your station feel the need to inform the ones whom want to kill them how to do this. I won’t tell you what I would like to due to the fact that the ones you have set up would have to rescue you and possibly get hurt with you how to guide. I hope every time you look in the mirror you like what you see, I also hope that you and your station get zero ratings this is the way the people of your area can show you that you SUCK. That was hard to keep clean. But I think you and your bosses will get the message. William S. Evans
# 268:
2:44 pm PDT, Jul 17,
David Osorio, North Carolina
# 267:
1:41 pm PDT, Jul 17,
Name not displayed, Illinois
I saw the video clip of the news segment. I am appalled at how this newscaster used a "prop" (the vest) to show in fact where it DOES NOT protect. There is absolutely NO GOOD REASON for this to have been done. If she would have just said "bullet-proof vests are not 100% in protecting officers" that would have been GOOD ENOUGH. I have been in L.E. for quite some time & so has my fiancee, so I DO HAVE REASON for being thoroughly disgusted with this news segment.
I saw the video clip of the news segment. I am appalled at how this newscaster used a "prop" (the vest) to show in fact where it DOES NOT protect. There is absolutely NO GOOD REASON for this to have been done. If she would have just said "bullet-proof vests are not 100% in protecting officers" that would have been GOOD ENOUGH. I have been in L.E. for quite some time & so has my fiancee, so I DO HAVE REASON for being thoroughly disgusted with this news segment.
# 266:
12:39 pm PDT, Jul 17,
Name not displayed, California
# 265:
2:35 pm PDT, Jul 16,
Richard Costa, Florida
What is wrong with you people, are you in that much of dispare to sell the news. Get a grip on life people, lets hope you never need a cop to come and help you nad have then shot just as they get close to helping you !!!!
What is wrong with you people, are you in that much of dispare to sell the news. Get a grip on life people, lets hope you never need a cop to come and help you nad have then shot just as they get close to helping you !!!!
# 264:
1:10 pm PDT, Jul 16,
Jerry Rugen, Missouri
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME? HOW COULD ANYONE WITH ANY SENSE PUBLISH SUCH INFORMATION? How about telling the secret codes to entering the pentagon or how to launch a nuclear missle. I am not rich nor does my job pay that well and on my personal time I see people that I encounter while on duty. Now, I have someone telling people how to kill me and my brothers and sisters while on duty. How about putting your energies towards something constructive like how to help your neighber and be a better citizen. Who ever promoted and who ever is responsible for publishing this should be fired or lose their job, period. Apparently whoever wrote article has never been threatened by some idiot or told they will find where you live. However is responsible for this video can't have a brain or else is warped and hates cops. If you ever get robbed, mugged, or assaulted; don't call the police, you might shoot us.
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME? HOW COULD ANYONE WITH ANY SENSE PUBLISH SUCH INFORMATION? How about telling the secret codes to entering the pentagon or how to launch a nuclear missle. I am not rich nor does my job pay that well and on my personal time I see people that I encounter while on duty. Now, I have someone telling people how to kill me and my brothers and sisters while on duty. How about putting your energies towards something constructive like how to help your neighber and be a better citizen. Who ever promoted and who ever is responsible for publishing this should be fired or lose their job, period. Apparently whoever wrote article has never been threatened by some idiot or told they will find where you live. However is responsible for this video can't have a brain or else is warped and hates cops. If you ever get robbed, mugged, or assaulted; don't call the police, you might shoot us.
# 263:
12:43 pm PDT, Jul 16,
Dawn West Klemp, Georgia
I am a proud (former) member of the Law Enforcement community. I gladly sign this petion to Stop Demonstrating How To Kill Cops !! My Brothers and Sisters in Blue put their lives on the line every second of everyday to fight the war in our streets and deserve all the respect and help that all of us can offer to them !! With you always, The Thin Blue Line! Watch your 6 and Stay Safe Out There! Dawn West Klemp
I am a proud (former) member of the Law Enforcement community. I gladly sign this petion to Stop Demonstrating How To Kill Cops !! My Brothers and Sisters in Blue put their lives on the line every second of everyday to fight the war in our streets and deserve all the respect and help that all of us can offer to them !! With you always, The Thin Blue Line! Watch your 6 and Stay Safe Out There! Dawn West Klemp
# 262:
7:38 pm PDT, Jul 15,
Douglas Wiencek, Illinois
# 261:
1:42 pm PDT, Jul 15,
Andrea Gibbs, New Mexico
# 260:
1:36 pm PDT, Jul 15,
Sonya Young, New Mexico
# 259:
11:51 am PDT, Jul 15,
Jeffrey Vaccaro, Massachusetts
# 258:
8:40 am PDT, Jul 15,
Name not displayed, Texas
# 257:
8:35 am PDT, Jul 15,
Kenneth James, Montana
# 256:
7:47 am PDT, Jul 15,
Scott Dillon, Ohio
# 255:
5:33 am PDT, Jul 15,
Jason Marino, Minnesota
# 254:
12:25 am PDT, Jul 15,
Name not displayed, Washington
# 253:
5:06 pm PDT, Jul 14,
Pamela Cuneo, California
This is the most ridiculous posting I have seen! Why do NORMAL people want to put this on the net????
This is the most ridiculous posting I have seen! Why do NORMAL people want to put this on the net????
# 252:
5:00 pm PDT, Jul 14,
STEVEN PRESTON, Maine
# 251:
1:01 pm PDT, Jul 14,
Johnnie Lu, Minnesota
