First Time For Everything

I've been in the news business a long time. In almost 30 years of covering breaking news, I have never been completely denied access to a crash scene. I've spent countless hours waiting for access but today was the first time I was prevented from gathering video of a crash scene, even after the gathering of evidence at the scene was complete.

I've been to hundreds of fatal crash scenes. I've seen a grown man break down and sob like a baby upon learning his mother was dead. She had been trapped in the car for a long time. Firefighters tried so hard to free her while EMS worked to keep her alive. She was the victim of a drunk driver. That drunk driver was her son. She was a passenger in his car when he crashed.

More recently I gathered video on one side of a street as a witness told police two cars had been racing before the crash. Then I crossed the road to hear a young man swear to an officer he had no idea how the car he was driving crashed and ended up almost inside a nearby variety store.

I've spent countless hours waiting patiently in my vehicle as officers performed every detail of recreating a crash scene, piecing together every tiny aspect, photographing ever piece of scattered wreckage. I have waited for 5 or 6 hours and this is exactly how it should be. Police have an important job to do. People's lives and justice hangs in the balance. At the end of the day the job they do is much more important than the job I do.

Typically at some point after all the measurements have been taken, after all the positions have been mapped out and all the evidence tagged, the field work is done. It is usually at this point and this point only, that the media is granted access to gather video and photos before the vehicles are loaded on tow trucks and removed from the scene. This is not a right guaranteed under law. It's a sort of give and take, a partnership if you will, police working with the media to keep the public informed. 

We help them spread various safety messages like Don't Drink and Drive, Don't Text and Drive, Speed Kills,  Buckle Up and Live, to name a few. I've had officers reach into a vehicle and lift out an open bottle of liquor, placing it on top of the wreckage, a clear and vivid image that sticks with many in the community. The driver still has their day in court but sometimes it is so obvious that Media Relations Officers give interviews immediately following the crash to say they suspect drinking or excessive speed played a factor in the carnage. It's a message we all need to hear.

Of course behind every fatal collision lies a slew of devastated family members, those left behind with more questions than answers. Did someone cross the center line? Was alcohol a factor? Does the damage indicate extreme speed may have played a role? Was everyone buckled up? The pain they go through is something most of us cannot imagine. Sometimes the answers are not clear. The closure never comes. I am so sorry for your loss.

Friday's double fatal crash just outside of Hamilton was a first for me. I waited by a road block as darkness turned to daylight and officers continued to gather the necessary evidence at the crash scene. I wasn't alone. Four other media outlets also waited patiently for access. We were all very shocked when tow trucks arrived and the vehicles were loaded up, the road was swept and cleared of debris by the tow truck drivers and still no access was given the media. 

I was even more shocked when Hamilton Police Chief Glenn De Caire arrived. He agreed to an interview and used that media appearance to appeal for witnesses. Please call if you saw anything at all that might help them. My first thought was this. Perhaps if media was allowed access for photos or video and then shared those with hundreds of thousands of viewers, it may jog someone's memory. They may come forward and say "I saw that vehicle down the road just before the crash and it was doing this or that." 

In closing I need to stress I have no information regarding the cause of this morning's fatal accident. Police have said they will be checking all possible causes. It is far too early to pin these things down. Officers will be working for weeks looking at all the evidence. I will be back on shift tonight at eleven. Please drive safely. Let's not meet by accident.

Note: This is not about photos or video of victims. We do not show those things on TV. All video I gather is vetted and approved before use. We typically do not show graphic images of victims.

UPDATED: A 17-year-old from Hamilton had been drinking with friends before he got behind the wheel and ended up in car accident that killed him and a 42-year-old father of three, the teen's friends say.
http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/news/story/2013/07/26/toronto-fatal-hamilton-crash.html

Toronto - Ten Months In

Fast forward 10 months. I’ve landed the job I needed to feed the family. It’s a night shift but that’s fine with me. The way I look at it is this. On the days shift you are one of maybe ten shooters. You may be at City Hall or at a Fundraiser and when the big crime story breaks, you might get assigned if you’re close to the scene. The night is mine. I get all the big stories as long as they happen at night. No traffic hassles and no line-up at the drive-thru. Finding a clean washroom can be a bigger challenge.

I think I’ve proven myself to my new employer. I’ve showed up in the morning with the story that matters. The Queen St. fire was huge. I think it made them realize that it was worth having someone out overnight. When the ETF rounded up the gang members from MS-13 I was there. When the Superior Propane factory exploded I was there. When the truck veered off the 401 and into the bridge I was there. If you look up and see me looking at you through my camera, you might be having a bad night.

I often think about how much the city has changed since I last worked here in 1994. The boonies are now the city. The roads are even more congested. The house prices are ridiculous. A cop told me that Brampton is the new Jane and Finch. I’ve been to Brampton too many times since my return. They are having a record year in Peel for murders, but Toronto seems to be doing a pretty good job of keeping up. Too many guns on the street these days. I covered a teenager who was shot in the chest for his bicycle in Scarborough the other night. It didn’t make the news. Too many more serious things happening and there’s an election don’t you know.

I hear the calls every night. Another robbery just occurred. Three young men with guns just robbed the convenience store clerk. Night cashier must be one of the most dangerous jobs in Toronto. Alaskan crab fishermen have nothing on these guys. If you want to experience crime first hand just get a job in a corner store after dark. These stories don’t even make the news anymore. Nobody cares.

The last few nights have been crazy. Monday I started early and went straight to the scene on a murder at Weston Rd. and Finch. A young woman found stabbed to death in her apartment. We had another one of these last week. That one was a Chinese student who was found tied to a chair in her Talara Dr. apartment. She had placed an ad on-line for a roommate. Where they related? Probably not, just strangely similar from this side of the crime tape.

The weeks not over but I’ve been to a few fires, two shootings and two fatal accidents. The day shift guys have been busy too. First they get a bus stop shooting near Keele and Eglinton and the next day a guy gets tossed from a car on the 401 near Keele. They both lived in the same neighbourhood, now they are both gone. Two more young black men dead at the end of a gun.