Don't expect CCN to do our job

There has been much thoughtless ranting about the lack of credibility of the police's information arm, the Constabulary Communications Network (CCN), since the emergence of a video showing policemen beating and then shooting a supine man who could have been otherwise subdued.

The critics see this as vindication of their position that the police often lie about their encounters with citizens which, usually, is delivered to the public via CCN.

The point to be noted, however, is that the CCN is not an independent news gathering organisation, operating independently of the police force. Part of its mandate is to be a conduit for information from those on the operational front. In other words, it delivers raw material, which the press and the wider public can, and often do, challenge.

In the face of the controversy, the CCN's changed mandate makes sense: it should deliver the basic facts about operational matters. The independent press must then do its job, not seek to franchise it out to the CCN.

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