A Quick Beatcheck Tip

Speaking with a communications person at our local police today, I came across some valuable information.

When making your beatchecks, asking "Hey, is there anything going on today?" is in most cases a complete waste of time. I was informed today that our local PD is trained to simply say "Everything's about normal today" regardless of anything going on that's sub-apocalypse level of importance. But, if you're listening to the scanner and have one nugget of information, if you start with "Hey we're hearing on the scanner there's a robbery in progress, do you know where the address is?" then you'll get some concrete information.

Of course, if you're making your regular beatchecks and are trying to be friendly with local dispatch, you might be able to get that information anyways if you're friendly with them. I know an overnight producer who had no PIO to rely upon for breaking news, and the constant communication between her and local dispatches allowed her to get more information from dispatch than they generally release. It's probably been repeated to death, but when making beatcheck calls, be friendly, try to sneak in a question about their day or anything beyond "Anything going on? No? OK thanks bye!".

To recap, if there's a robbery going on in your town, the quick call to local PD can go two different ways.

"Hey, is there anything going on right now?"
"Everything's within normal."
"OK, thanks!"

OR......

"Hey, I heard on the scanner that there's a robbery in progress in Temple, do you have the address?"
"Yes, hold on... It's on the 3700 block of ____ Street, units are on scene."
"OK, Thanks!"

I'm not sure if this is how every PD in a mid-sized town works, but I was shocked when he said how many other news stations ask him that question when he knows he can't volunteer indiscriminate information and that he's been trained to simply reply "Everything's normal" regardless of what the current situation is.

Just a quick tip I thought I'd pass on.