The integrity of public statements by city officials

When a city official makes a public statement we expect the statement to be free of obfuscation, misunderstanding, confusion and even the perception of such.  In other words, is the statement clear as to intent and meaning or is it possible to read something else into the statement?

Muskogee Police Department’s (MPD) Chief of Police Rex Eskridge stated before the city council on May 24, 2010 that “he would rate Muskogee at a 50 on a scale of 0-115   assessing whether the city has a gang problem,” according to the Phoenix.[1]  (See my blog of January 1 entitled, “Muskogee’s long term association with gangs (and the city’s tepid response to it).)

Since Chief Eskridge made the statement directly citing the Gang Assessment Tool you would think his statement was based upon the MPD having “taken” the survey, conducted the research, and accurately answered the questions. 

But, no.

When an Open Records Act request was filed with the city asking to see all the documentation corresponding to Chief Eskridge’s “50 point” rating, the city’s response was:  “According to Chief Eskridge, there was no specific statistical data upon which he relied, rather the assignment of the score of ‘50’ was based on his years of experience with the Muskogee Police Department.”

So why didn’t Chief Eskridge say that to begin with?  Now remember, Chief Eskridge is providing this information to the city council and all of Muskogee via live television; you’d think he want to be as clear as possible, especially as to the source of his statement.

Maybe Chief Eskridge should have been more prudent in his response by saying something to the effect:  “Mr. Mayor, City Manager, members of the City Council, I have not had the opportunity to have my staff conduct a proper and thorough search of our records in specific response to these 13 questions from the Gang Assessment Tool.  I would much rather refrain from providing anything at this time other than a thoroughly researched response to this critical issue of gangs.  However, I believe that within 60 days, I can provide an accurate response to this assessment tool and from there the city can use that data to develop an appropriate response to this issue that plagues America.”

It is the job of the chief of police to tell us the truth about an issue, especially one as serious as gangs in which the life of one Muskogee youth was taken way too early April 10 during a gang-related shooting at Arrowhead Mall which also left several people wounded.

We also understand the city’s concern that “image” is everything especially when the city is, with limited resources, trying to attract more business and industry to Muskogee.  But the police chief’s job is not to be the public relations agency for the city of Muskogee; rather it is to tell the truth, no matter had “badly” it reflects upon the city.

Did Chief Eskridge intentionally mislead the city council and the citizens of Muskogee?  Only Chief Eskridge knows.  But the fact that he did not preface his remarks with “based upon my years of experience with the Muskogee Police Department,” leads one to believe that his comment was based upon the outcome of completing the Gang Assessment Tool.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, is not what we expect from our city officials.

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[1]“Assessment says city has gang problem,” by Liz McMahan, Muskogee Daily Phoenix, May 24, 2010.  The Gang Assessment Tool asks 13 questions which are scored between 5 to 15 points per question.  The higher the score, the more serious the gang problem a city has.