“Twin Peaks, May 17, 2015 Incident.”
- Aug 21, 2016
- 2 min read
A year, three months and four days ago, I was outraged with the Waco Police Department. I've recently began a study on the department's communication mechanisms from a systems approach as part of my graduate studies in communications with Southern New Hampshire University. I wrote a couple articles and various posts about the Waco PD spokesperson, Sgt. Patrick Swanton, concerning how he handled the media situation. But as I have conducted my analysis, which will be a part of a video presentation that I should be publishing in the next week, “Milstone 2: Leadership Communication Critique,” I have to admit that the man does have skills. Below is an excerpt from the script... The "Elk Video Facebook link is provided above...
Rozean:
One thing about the Waco PD public information operations is that they are blessed with a great spokesperson, Sgt. Patrick Swanton. When he speaks his presences appears to establish ethos(credibility), pathos(emotion), and logos(logical argument).
[Key Swanton pic on Strengths slide]
He has a great ability to speak clearly and in a language that is easy to understand. Check out this clip from the Waco PD Facebook page.
[Que Elk video]
SWAnTon:
Ok…Good morning Y’all, to give you a little bit of an update. They have darted he elk, and the elk is down. As luck would have it, the elk has fallen in the most wooded part of the creek. We have volunteers, game wardens, and officers are, at this point, trying to rescue the elk out of the creek. And is obviously taking a team effort. As you can see they have got it now, and hopefully at this point we can get it medically evaluated and make sure it’s safe.
[Key more Swanton pics on Strengths slide]
ROzean:
Great job!
From “Milstone 2: Leadership Communication Critique,”
These things being said, there are still a lot of issues with the criminal justice system in Waco, but as I read the Dallas Morning News article, "Judge: Prosecutor has 'substantial' stake in Waco biker case"; it is beginning to become clear that the true culprit of violating the civil rights of those bikers belongs largely to District Attorney Abel Reyna. However, Chief Brent Stroman and Sgt. Swanton shouldn't have bought into Reyna's philosophy that anyone wearing colors should have been arrested regardless of their circumstances.
And Swanton, as a PI professional, shouldn't have editorialized in his statements that the Texas Confederation of Clubs and Independents meeting was some sort of meeting designed to orchestrate gang violence. Many of those in attendance were not criminals, and I still postulate a large percentage of those still being prosecuted had nothing to do with the crime that should have been investigated properly. Swanton bought into Reyna's proposition at the scene to arrest anyone with any motorcycle connection in the vicinity.
Anyway, so the efforts of this site begins...
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