Then Again, maybe not.

[TechnoDave]

Mayor says no to police reality series here

Birmingham Mayor Bernard Kincaid does not approve of plans to feature Birmingham police officers in a cable TV reality crime series and said it will likely be canceled.

The mayor today said Police Chief Annetta Nunn exceeded her authority when she agreed to allow crews from the A&E series “The First 48” to follow and film her officers. The show chronicles police work during the first 48 hours of a homicide.

Kincaid said only the mayor can sign documents binding the city to agreements.

“The law department advised me that the police chief does not have that authority,” he said. “Quite frankly I do not support it.”

In addition, the mayor questioned the impact cameras would have on active investigations.

“Active investigations would be compromised,” he said.

Joseph D. Bryant

 

[TechnoDave]

Now my take on this..... the mayor (small letters intentional), once again has his "IM THE DAMN MAYOR" hat on and how dare the chief ok this without talking to his almighty self.

Maybe the mayor is afraid of what his citizens will look like on TV, although that did not stop his goofy a$$ from being at the American Idol auditions.

I wonder if Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton were the emcees of this show if he would have allowed it???


**** disclaimer addition...... The First Amendment allows me to speak my mind.

 

[Gilligan]

My opinion is that regardless of his attitude, it is an issue of authority and he is the one who is to make the decision. If something goes astray, he will be blamed for it and his reputation is on the line. So it's not really up to the police chief.

 

[CSL126]

That is ridiculous! It's really an honor for a TV series to choose to be affiliated with your city. I think that Mayor Kincaid missed an opportunity to get Birmingham noticed. Granted that the city has been in the spotlight because of American Idol.

 

[dave911]

Give me a break. I heard an interview with him today that told me exactly what the real reason was. "The Police Chief didn't have the authority to make that erroneous decision."

It's good enough for Miami, Las Vegas and Memphis. Makes you wonder what "secrets" the Mayor thinks we have that they don't?

Gilligan... using your logic, the Mayor would have to approve drug raids. If they hit the wrong house, he would certainly share in the blame. With all due respect, you have to live here to understand what we're going through.

 

[smithw14]

Ha. Of course, did you guys think Mayor Kincaid was going to have any of this?! Of course not - he didn't get to make this decision to allow the show to come to Bham. So he is flexing his mayoral muscle yet again - abruptly pulling the plug for Birmingham's participation. He said Chief Nunn did not have the authority to make the decision (after getting approval from the city attorney) allowing the show to come here. Nobody has any authority to do anything according to Kincaid. Apparently Jeffco DA David Barber gave his input as well, saying this would interfere with investigations.

Pathetic. Both of them - pathetic. I'm so sick of this mayor (forgive me for getting on my soap box). What a pathetic man, who has to micromanage everything and works with no one. No pay raise for the police, and nobody can see how hard they work. Of course not. That makes sense, doesn't it?

What a shame. Just one more reason I am adding to my list of why I am moving out of this city and state after I graduate in a few months to pursue my career in law enforcement. I am ready for progression, and tired of regression.

Sincerely fuming,

William

 

[smithw14]

I really hope that the Bham News editorial board writes a good slam on the mayor for this one.

Oh, and has anyone told Kincaid about the BFRS film crew? Maybe the news should keep that on the down-low.

 

[TechnoDave]

William,
I think it is almost a certain that John Archibald will have a comment or two.

 

[scannerfreak]

What a joke...

 

[dave911]

For people outside the Birmingham TV market... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJqoF4EMkP8

 

[TechnoDave]

Thanks Dave, I had not seen 13's report.

The mayor said
" I have not watched the show.......... Im not convinced it does not compromise the investigation"

HEY MR. mayor.... WATCH THE SHOW AND SEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[scannerfreak]

Maybe he should call the other cities and find out how many cases have been solved that would not have been if not for this show. Talked about closed minded, never even seen the show and says he has no interest in seeing it. What an idiot. I am with you all, it sounded like his main beef was not being asked first..

 

[smithw14]

Look at how his eyes flicker at the end of the interview. Thats the mark of the devil, I tell you!

 

[TechnoDave]

Well, here's the commentary from The Birmingham News:

`First 48' flap reveals city's caricatures
Thursday, February 15, 2007
No wonder cable TV's powers that be wanted to roll tape in Birmingham.

It's a train wreck, a reality show in itself. Jerry Springer Live.

But there is no changing the channel. It's not "Survivor," where Mayor Bernard Kincaid can be voted off the island this week. It's not "American Idol," where Police Chief Annetta Nunn's voice can save her for another episode. It might feel like "The Surreal Life," but it's just life. Life in Birmingham.

Cops are mad, you see. Some feel cheated out of their 15 minutes of fame. Others believe their chief has been disgraced. And why?

Because Kincaid had the nerve to cancel Chief Nunn's prime-time plans. The mayor yelled "cut" just a day before the A&E network was to start filming Birmingham segments of its detective-shadowing show, "The First 48."

He cut her show, her authority and, some say, the legs right out from under her.

Sgt. Dexter Cunningham, president of Birmingham's Fraternal Order of Police, put it in the form of this question:

"If your boss doesn't support you, does that allow you to do your job?"

In truth the anger toward the mayor is not so simple. Plenty of people believe he was right to cancel the show, that Birmingham's bountiful crop of homicides is not something to sell on national TV. He is the mayor, after all. He deserves a say on whether to allow such access.

So it's not so much that he nixed the show. The problem is that he embarrassed Nunn publicly, pompously and painfully.

But hey, that's the mayor - a mayor who is increasingly seen as one not friendly to the Police Department.

This is the same mayor who pledged over the bodies of three fallen officers to make Birmingham police the highest-paid in the state, only to later sue the City Council to block police pay raises.

This is the mayor who has allowed staffing at the Police Department to drop sharply even as crime chased out businesses and residents.

He is the mayor whose long-awaited crime-reduction plan was buckets shy of shallow and was ridiculed by police officers and the council's Public Safety Committee.

This is the mayor who was too busy to meet with police union representatives but had time to show up at "American Idol" auditions dressed like Ruben Studdard.

Most important, this is the mayor who decided Nunn would make a fine chief and supported her even as the homicide count topped 100 for the second year in a row.

And maybe that hasn't been such a good strategy.

Almost to a person, police officers praise Nunn as a good officer, a faithful Christian and a gifted singer. But more often those officers have begun to question her leadership, her crime-fighting tactics and her personnel choices. Perhaps she is hamstrung because she serves at the pleasure of the mayor. Perhaps she is just inadequate.

This brush with reality TV has done what reality TV always does: It highlights flaws and creates caricatures of its cast.

Perhaps, without ever taping a single scene, "The First 48" already showed us what we need to see.

John Archibald's column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Write him at jarchibald@bhamnews.com.

 

[dave911]

I guess the old adage is true, "You can't fight City Hall..." even if you're the Police Chief.

 

[SAR923]

It's hard to imagine a mayor that doesn't meet with his department heads on a regular basis and ask "Hey, anything new I should know about?" Well, given that we live in Alabama, I guess it isn't really that hard to imagine. Maybe the mayor thought 106 murders in a city of 240,000 wouldn't be good news on national TV.

 

[dave911]

What gets me is the fact that they only follow one homicide. The Mayor acts like they were going to follow all 106 of them.

What's more embarrassing, your police department on national TV investigating one murder or the Mayor on American Idol in over-alls and a hat that says Mayor?