By Dave Branton-Brown
The wave of prank 911 calls about armed or suspicious men near Ottawa schools has clogged up emergency response teams and interfered with the education of students.
But now, the situation has also interfered with the public’s right to be informed.
The calls attracted a lot of news coverage last month and generated lots of discussion. Residents tried to figure out why there had been more than 30 hoax 911 calls in just over a month.
But an Ottawa Police Service media release stated late last month that police will not comment on hoax 911 calls that relate to armed gunmen at local schools.
Police will inform the media when they make arrests and give background information on prank calls, but won’t discuss the issue with reporters, the release said.
The police adopted the policy because they think media coverage might fuel prank callers, says spokesperson Const. Alain Boucher. Some Ottawa news organizations have agreed not to cover the fake calls unless police make arrests, Boucher says.
But discouraging media coverage on the issue and silencing public debate is not a good way to solve the problem. The chance that media coverage might give the prank callers a thrill or inspire copycats is not worth suppressing valuable public debate.
It’s even more important for the media not to abandon its watchdog role. The media is supposed to serve the public and make sure public institutions are doing a good job.
The no-comment policy on hoax 911 calls means police treat the issue the same way they treat suicides and bomb threats, last month’s news release said.
But reporting on schools after they have been locked down for hours doesn’t impede police investigations or endanger anyone involved in the incidents. The public has a right to know more than whether arrests have been made. They also have a right to know whether progress has been made and whether students are still losing classroom time.
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board is trying to keep parents informed about the issue. The board is sending letters to parents across the entire region, says Dan Wiseman, the board’s manager of safe schools.
Wiseman says the board is co-operating with police and supports the Ottawa Police Service’s decision to refuse to comment on the hoax calls.
But the debate loses some of its best contributors if police remain silent. Before the policy, police Chief Vern White expressed concern that the community might start expecting 911 calls about armed gunmen to be hoax calls. He urged everyone involved to treat each threat seriously.
The response from residents and students showed that they were taking the threats seriously and were outraged by the hoax calls. It also allowed students to voice their frustrations.
The student voice might even have an effect on prank callers. Rather than being encouraged to make more calls, those responsible might stop if they realize fellow students think the calls are stupid and misguided.
Wiseman says the large amount of calls is unprecedented and finding out why this happened will take time.
But less debate will not generate more answers. Fewer stories and published letters about the calls will only push the issue out of the public’s mind. And if students are still making pranks calls, the issue should still be front and centre.
Perhaps most importantly, the press and the public should not let the issue disappear because school shootings are still a very real threat north of the border.
The prank calls draw up recent memories of the Dawson College shootings in Montreal – barely a year old.
People in Ottawa are questioning why some young teens are so uncaring and undisciplined that they disrupt thousands of students’ education and joke about a serious issue. People are questioning how schools and police respond to bomb threats and reports of armed gunmen. And all of this questioning is a good thing.
It’s not saying parents, police, or schools are doing a bad job. It’s questioning why the prank calls are happening and how the community should respond. Discussion can only improve the situation. Discouraging media coverage and discouraging this debate is the wrong approach and won’t solve the problem.