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Below are step-by-step instructions on working a cops shift.
Something to remember above all else is that communication is critical throughout this process. If you are the first reporter in the newsroom and you come across something major, make sure to communicate that to the digital team and to an editor.
Act with a sense of urgency to publish news to toledoblade.com. Again, communication with the digital team and editors is key. Let the digital team know when you have something ready to post. If it is a particularly sensitive story, let an editor know so they can read it before it goes online.
If you need to head to the scene of a crime first thing, make sure that is communicated to the photo staff so they can also get there.
Dave Zapotosky can help arrange photo coverage. His cell is
419-349-0550. If Dave is off or cannot be reached, call Mike Brice or Kim Bates and they can help arrange with Photo.
Also keep an ear to the police scanners. These often will be the first indication that something is happening. That means lose the earbud headphones. Sorry.
What to do:
1. Check the overnight note for details of any stories that might be hanging out from the night before:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MsV7KbMtI6UoFgOPXWg_4CF-ESRYJzZzPr--8N_WPsg/edit?usp=sharing
2. Right away check WTVG-13 and
WTOL-11 websites and Twitter accounts for any news worth chasing (persons shot in particular) that occurred overnight. Toledo police and the Toledo Fire Department maintain active Twitter/Facebook accounts that often provide useful confirmation.
3. Check the fax machine under the TVs. Many departments still rely on faxes to get out important police news. Editors may also forward you emails with faxes, news releases, etc.
4. Check the Toledo Police blotter site to see what criminal activity took place overnight or during the prior day:
https://toledopolice.com/media-information/login.html
Username:theblade
password: theblade
Once you are logged in, go to 'media information' at the top right and click 'Media Files'
Click the link to the PDF of the daily crime log. Crime logs are usually posted every morning and every case assigned to detectives, except for sexual assaults. Please note "Time Logged" is NOT when it occurred, but when entered, which can be more than an hour later. You can disregard almost all Code 18s (dead on arrival, often overdose or age), thefts, identity frauds, burglaries, and relatively minor offenses that do not involve public safety or prominent individuals. Pay attention to felonious assaults or anything unusual. Most importantly, use your news judgment. If you see something strange or newsworthy, work to get more info. If you do not
t know if something qualifies, consult an editor.
Some of these items will correspond to Unusual Incident reports, or UIs, located under the list of crime logs. These are written by sergeants, posted on weekdays by the public information officer (currently Lt. Kellie Lenhardt and assistant Officer Andrew Dlugosielski) typically between 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. These are not incident reports, but summaries, and often tip us to cases we would like to review further.
Entries in the crime logs or UIs also can also have RB numbers corresponding to the cases. RB numbers can be entered in the municipal court docket search, in Ticket or Reference Number, and can show if anyone has been charged in connection with a specific case.
To get immediate information, such as confirmation of a person shot at 123 N. Main St., call Toledo Police non-emergency line and ask a dispatcher. You should also try the watch commander. For information about a case that already happened, like a person shot overnight, call the Detective Bureau (a.k.a. 212) and ask for the sergeant on duty.
Non-Emergency 419-245-3340
Watch Commander 419-245-3242
Detective Bureau 419-245-3142
Toledo Police PIOs work 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, and are not reachable after-hours or on weekends unless they are called in for a super critical incident (i.e. officer shot). For after-hours and weekends, you will have to call the detective bureau and try to get information that way if you didn't actually go to a scene and talk to a command officer there. Otherwise, most incidents we would call about should be included in the next batch of UIs.
For fires, Pvt. Sterling Rahe is the go-to any day of the week for Toledo Fire and Rescue Department, 419-392-4550. For other departments, call their main numbers and ask for someone who can give you information. It often winds up being the chief, assistant chief, or someone else in administrative staff. Check YourSource for other contact information.
5. Check the jail booking sheet, which includes *everyone* booked into the Lucas County jail over the past three days:
http://lcapps.co.lucas.oh.us/ftproot/noris/upload/lcsheriff/data/lccc-bookingsummary.pdf
NOTE: To request mugshots not on the sheet, call the jail records department at 213-4975. If it's after regular business hours call at 419-213-4960 and press 6 to speak with booking.
This provides valuable information on when booked, the booking agency, court of criminal charges, and whether the inmate is released from jail or still incarcerated. It does not list everyone in the jail. (Call Lucas County sheriff's records 419-213-4975 for booking photos.)
6. Felony arraignments in Toledo Municipal Court typically take place at 9 a.m. in Courtroom 3 the day after someone is arrested (or the morning-of if arrest was early that day), so check the booking sheet before then so we know if there is someone we need to cover in court that morning. Judges expect media for larger cases, and reporters sit against the wall near the judge. Make sure to tell Photo if we're going to cover a Muni Court case so they can tag along.
If an inmate is charged in Toledo Municipal Court, the records are immediately available. Clerks there scan every charging document filed by law enforcement. These documents provide a good first source and helpful narrative. Municipal court records online will also immediately list bond amounts.
Muni court records:
https://tools.tmc-clerk.com/caseinformation/criminaltraffic/
7. Check the Ohio Department of Transportation OHGO website to get a sense for any major backups or traffic jams.
http://ohgo.com/nw-ohio?lt=41.242&ln=-84.5&z=9&ls=incident,construction,camera,delay
If you see something involving major delays on the local freeways (I-75, I-475, I-280, U.S. 23) or the Ohio Turnpike, write something short for the web and let the digital team know. OHGO's traffic cameras may or may not be useful, depending on how close they are to an incident location. There are no such cameras on the Turnpike.
8. If inclement weather is a problem, get a story online asap. The National Weather Service's Toledo page will contain information about the current forecast, plus any watches, warnings, or advisories. A watch is issued when a particular condition is deemed possible in the designated area. A warning means that a dangerous condition is occurring or indicated to be occurring (such as a radar echo indicating a tornado). An advisory means a condition is occurring that could be problematic but is not as dangerous as a warning (such as a winter weather advisory vs. a winter storm warning).
https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=41.67&lon=-83.59#.XHXqtsBKiM8
NWS will also usually have a meteorologist on hand that you can interview.
Cleveland Office (Lucas, Wood, Hancock and counties to the east) - 216-265-2372
White Lake, Michigan (Monroe and Lenawee, Metro Detroit) - 248-625-4249
North Webster, Indiana(far northwest Ohio, Hillsdale County Michigan) - 574-834-1104
While temperatures and precipitation reports are available from other locations, the official reporting station for Toledo is at Toledo Express Airport.
Check for local power outages
First Energy(most of Toledo area in Ohio):
http://outages.firstenergycorp.com/oh.html
Consumers Energy (Lenawee County and southern Monroe County, Michigan):
https://www.consumersenergy.com/outagemap?x=-9292049.717006564&y=5366958.377371876
Detroit Edison (Monroe & vicinity):
https://newlook.dteenergy.com/wps/wcm/connect/dte-web/home/problems-and-safety-landing/common/outage/check-outage-status
Additional night shift notes
9. Call the coroner around 8 p.m. Ask for any causes of death on pending cases we've reported on, and more generally feel them out to see if anything interesting happened that we missed.
Dr. Diane Scala-Barnett: 419-841-3784
Note: Mark Z. will generally send an email at the end of each work week noting which coroner is on call for the weekend.
10. Watch the WTOL news report at 10 pm on Fox36 (channel 12 on newsroom TVs).
11. At 11 p.m., watch the 13, 11, and 24 newscasts. You only need to watch first 5 to 7 minutes.
12. Update the overnight note as needed:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MsV7KbMtI6UoFgOPXWg_4CF-ESRYJzZzPr--8N_WPsg/edit?usp=sharing
13. As time allows, it never hurts to make a round of cops calls. Check in with some of the major police departments in our area and try to chat up those who answer, asking them if there is anything breaking, anything interesting going on, etc.
For a list of cops phone numbers see:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZNt-PQpj8rNhVGA0Uh-FyejCa4WifKrqMQoESlfcf6g/edit?usp=sharing
Weather Data
When contacting a weather
expert, you can call WTOL, Channel 11, chief meteorologist Robert
Shiels at 419-248-1116 or call and ask for a
meteorologist at the National Weather Service or Accu-Weather. (See
numbers below.) Also, the weather sites below give real-time radar
data and are very helpful when tracking a storm, etc.
National Weather Service numbers
National Weather Service Cleveland
216-265-2372
National Weather Service Detroit
(White Lake) 248-625-4139, 248-625-4249, 248-620-2355
National Weather Service Northern
Indiana (Syracuse, Ind.) 574-834-1104, ext. 726
National Weather Service Wilmington
937-383-0031
Accu-Weather 814-237-0309, ex. 0,
Help 814-237-0309, ex. 250
Weather sites
(Detroit radar)
http://radar.weather.gov/ridge/radar.php?rid=dtx&product=N0R&overlay=11101111&loop=no
(Ohio NWS)
http://www.weather.gov/view/states.php?state=oh
(Michigan NWS) http://www.weather.gov/view/states.php?state=mi
(Indiana NWS)
http://www.weather.gov/view/states.php?state=in
Monitor the TV news
When working the cop shift,
it is imperative that you monitor the TV newscasts to make sure we
didn't miss a story. Here is a list of the stations in our market
and the time each station has a newscast.
Channel 24, WNWO NBC
(cable channel 10) (news at 5-7 a.m., noon, 7:30 p.m., M-F; 11 p.m.
all days)
Channel 13, WTVG ABC (cable
channel 8) (news at 5-7 a.m., noon, 5-6:30 p.m. M-F; 11 p.m. all
days)
Channel 36, WUPW FOX (cable
channel 12) (Noon, 6:30 p.m. M-F; 10 p.m. all days)
Channel 11, WTOL CBS (cable
channel 7) (news at 5-7 a.m., 9-11 a.m., noon, 5-6:30 p.m. M-F; 11
p.m. all days)
Other cable channels
CNN (cable channel 2)
ESPN (cable channel 3)
BCSN (cable channel 13) -- this is
Buckeye Cable Sports Network
Weather Channel (cable channel 15)
ESPN 2 (cable channel 12)
CNN Headline News (cable channel 41)
CNBC (cable channel 42)
FOX News Channel (cable channel 43)
MSNBC (cable channel 44)
C-SPAN (cable channel 55)
Toledo Police Department HINTS
Toledo Police Department (TPD) crews on the radios in hundreds, 900 usually detective, 1000 is
chief or deputy chief
T car = traffic investigator for serious accident.
TPD dispatch supervisor (communications, clarify radio traffic)
419-245-3340
TFD dispatch (fire board) 419-245-1180, or 3551 on fire phone. [to use fire
phone hit 24 then station number, so for station 3 hit 2-4-0-3, or
station 16 hit 2416]
TPD records bureau 419-245-3111 (something from day shift)
Safety building watch commander desk
419-245-3247
Detective bureau 419-245-3142
Lucas County EMS 419-213-6556 (can get an idea of how badly patient is hurt,
but no names or specifics)
Toledo City Helpline: 419-245-1000
Toledo Police Scanner Codes
Code 2 - Immediate response (no lights and sirens)
Code 3 - Lights and Sirens
Code 18 - Dead person
Code 20 - Location check (police radio). Drug overdose (fire radio).
Code 23 - Unit has arrived at scene.
Code 89 - Bomb threat.
Code A - Arrest made, unit in service.
Code B - Report made/taken, unit in service.
Code C - Citation issued
Code D - Unit complete at scene.
Code E - Assisted crew/citizen, unit in service.
Code F - (Not big deal)
Code I - Unit canceled.
Toledo Police units
Unit numbers range from the 100s to the 700s for normal patrol units
referring to the cars (can be one or more officers). They start with the
100s in the northwest corner (Franklin Park area) and move up in number
clockwise around the city — 200s - north. 300s - Point Place area. 400s
- East Toledo. 500s -- South Toledo. 600s - southwest. 700s southwest
corner.
A unit that ends in 01 = lieutenant. 05 = sergeant. 800 & 900 =
detective 800s are undercover, vice units. 1000s = upper command, i.e.
deputy chiefs.
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