Ep. 37 Media bias and perpetuation of myths: a breakdown of a New York Times article on traffic stops

On Being a Police Officer

Ep. 37 When the news gets to shape the narrative, the consequences can become deadly for citizens and police alike.

This is a special crossover episode with Drew Breasy of YouTube’s “Failure To Stop” and “Drew Breasy Uncuffed.” Together, Drew and I break down an article that has haunted me for more than a year titled: “How broken taillights end in killings by police.” It ran Oct., 31, 2021 in the Sunday New York Times, splashed across the front page above the fold. Under it was a breakout story with the headline: “At traffic stops, officers’ presumption of danger breeds overreaction and seemingly avoidable deaths.” As I say in the interview, this statement is an opinion presented as fact. They make a premise and then everything they say supports that premise to give the illusion that it is true. Also known as a circular argument.

It is not my goal to give The New York Times or any other media a hard time. The media serve an important purpose in this country. But a story like this in an outlet as influential as the NYT is dangerous in how it affects societal perception, in how it affects officers’ ability to do their jobs and in that it has influence on states, counties and municipalities which, based on these misperceptions, create policies and laws that further jeopardize the lives of police and their ability to protect the public. As you well know, this ran at a time when civil unrest was still at its peak and calls for defunding were deafening. This article was intended to fuel that fire.

Many of you already know Drew Breasy, aka Lt. Andrew Baxter, who retired from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office just over a year ago after 29 years in law enforcement. Since then, he has launched “Drew Breezy Uncuffed” across his social media platforms. I appreciate his walking through this article with me. I think you will find it cathartic.

Here are links that relate back to the episode:

Failure to Stop:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KNPmjMrJ8c&t=1s

New York Times story

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/31/us/police-traffic-stops-killings.html

Chicago PD Officer Ella French

https://www.odmp.org/officer/25407-police-officer-ella-grace-french

Chicago PD Officer Carlos Yanez and his family-run Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/POCarlosStrong #CarlosStrong

DINKHELLER documentary by filmmaker and former police officer Patrick Shaver

https://www.dinkhellermovie.com/

Instagram: drew_breasy

Facebook: Drew Breasy Uncuffed

https://youtube.com/c/DrewBreasy

linktr.ee/Drew Breasy

LinkedIn: Andrew Baxter

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©Abby Ellsworth. All interviews, editing, production done by Abby Ellsworth. Music courtesy of freesound.org