Editor's Notes

February 16, 2012

Last week, as we were going to press, a 68-year-old woman with dementia walked out of her Bayside Village apartment and went missing.

By the time the paper hit the streets, Brenda Batts had died of exposure. She was found alongside the Newport Secondary Rail Line - the same tracks used by the Old Colony and Newport Railway, an organization that we profile this week.

While the State Police issued a "Silver Alert" which was publicized through various media outlets, public awareness fell short.

In the hours that she was missing, Newport Police could be seen scouring the streets.

But the city's Code Red system, which is reserved to notify the public via e-mail and telephone of "emergency situations or critical community alerts," remained silent.

This, just weeks after the City Council resolved to come up with a plan to improve the city's communications with its constituents.

While it's difficult to justify a government spending more money on a new hire, it's hard not to wonder whether things would have turned out differently if the city had a dedicated information officer on hand – someone whose job it is to harness the power of social media, reach out to neighborhood associations, and provide timely information to media outlets on behalf of emergency responders so that they can do what they do best.

In the wake of the incident, Mike Cullen, the moderator of the online forum, Knowing Newport (found at www.KnowingNewport.com), posed some pointed questions to the city.

Posting in the comments section of our sister publication, Newport Now, Cullen wrote the following in response to a police pledge to review their response to Ms. Batts' disappearance.

"Can anyone provide the public a copy of the standard procedure review of actions," he wondered.  He went on: "Who are the people involved in the review ? What is the review process? How does this process map against a 'best national practice' process ? Who is taking the input from the public? Where is the input going? Can we see the inputs on a city web page as they are submitted ? What is the deadline to receive such input ? Can the public help the city public safety enterprise with the review of the inputs so that new ideas can be discussed and debated out in the open ? When will the city publish an After Action Report ? A similar situation happened Jan 2006. What was learned from that case?"

February 16, 2012

Latest Comments

  • Are We Sheep or Citizens?

    As has been pointed out by a number of links posted on this story, Search & Rescue operations for sufferers of Alzheimer’s and Dementia are well studied and documented. Procedures exist. Rapid response is crucial to a successful outcome in these cases.

    It is also clear by the outpouring of comments by those concerned, that their willingness to contribute positively to her safe recovery by joining in a search was evident.

    Is our department disconnected from others? A simple google search will reveal many departments that successfully engage the assistance of the general public in cases such as these. I’m sure our top brass must attend seminars and advanced training on these types of cases? There are other degrees of public engagement between no involvement and a fully organized and managed one.

    The more people who know about a ‘search in progress’, the more eyes & boots on the ground you will have. If the Police Chief is concerned about managing civilians in a search - fine - that can come later. But it shouldn’t mean we have to rely on only the available officers and the NFD - on and off duty - to be doing all the work.

    This incident took place in the First Ward. Where was Councilman Charlie Duncan? Did the Police make him aware that one of his constituents with medical condition had gone missing? Did Councilman Duncan join in the search? Did he request other resources from the city? Did he call friends and neighbors in the area to aid the awareness?

    A Police Chief promising an internal ‘review’ and a Mayor issuing meaningless marketing slogans won’t bring back Ms. Batts. A fruitful, working, co-operative relationship between an engaged citizenry and the Council and Public Servants can help avert a tragedy like this in the future.

    My sincere condolences to the family of Ms. Batts.

    Posted by Chris Heaton February 17, 2012 07:32:16

  • But, Where are the Students?

    The really difficult, barely discussed, and unsettled issue may be that
    Newport's public safety enterprise does not see and may never want to see a "positive net worth" in using social media. Too many of the long time public safety employees may currently assess the liabilities of having a rapid, 2-way dialog (or even a 1-way broadcast) with the public as far outweighing the potential, hard to quantify benefits. (Even during the council's Jan 14, 2012 workshop on communications, there was barely a mention about actively listening to input from the public). Based on the near silence, opaque city comments, and lack of even a city crocodile tear in the Batts' death, I forecast that the detractors of a progressive city social media policy will include the mayor, police leadership, and city solicitor. I predict that their objections, out of public view, will likely prevail in the near term.

    Posted by Mike Cullen @ KnowingNewport February 16, 2012 21:59:05

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