Chron on crime
I’ve always had a thing for SF cops. In one of my earliest journalism courses my favorite professor kicked us out of the classroom and into the various station houses around town to teach us the importance of beat reporting and relationship building. Despite the oft-reported story that cops and journalists don’t get along (do we get along with ANYBODY?), I finished my time with the fuzz thinking that if this writing thing didn’t pan out, a badge wouldn’t look half bad on me. And because most reporters on the crime beat spend their days with their ear to the blotter, I was excited to find that Chronicle reporter John Koopman and photographer Brant Ward are “embedding” with the San Francisco Police Department. Their stories, while usually brief, are great for their on-the-scene, ride-along quality. A recent piece on undercover Tenderloin drug busts brought a little rhyme and reason to the random arrests that I’ve seen going down outside my garage on O’Farrell St. The articles and photographs give a sneak peak into what the cops are really up to on a daily basis, which can be both heartening and frustrating. Why don’t you take a look for yourself at The Badge. New stories appear weekly in the Monday Chronicle and on SF Gate.
