{"id":8294,"date":"2025-10-19T10:24:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T10:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/8294\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T10:24:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T10:24:23","slug":"when-they-dont-want-you-to-know-from-the-editor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/8294\/","title":{"rendered":"When they don\u2019t want you to know | From the editor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi Neighbor,<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a debate these days over the public\u2019s right to know. <\/p>\n

That means, of course, your right to know.<\/p>\n

Our government doesn\u2019t seem to want you to know what it deems you shouldn\u2019t know. Sort of a \u201cwhat you don\u2019t know won\u2019t hurt you\u201d philosophy.<\/p>\n

Over at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has declared that you should only know what he wants you to know about the military. So he demanded that press people sign a document limiting their reporting to only the news the Defense Department hands out.<\/p>\n

If reporters refused to sign? Their press credentials were revoked, and they were kicked out of the Pentagon building. Just one signed \u2013 One America News Network, which happens to be a fan of Donald Trump. Even Fox and Newsmax.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the news coming out of the Oval Office. A lot of it is pretty twisted, and when the press reports something the commander-in-chief doesn\u2019t like, it\u2019s labeled \u201cfake news.\u201d And lest we forget, the Associated Press is barred from the White House briefing room because editors there wouldn\u2019t call the Gulf of Mexico Trump\u2019s Gulf of America.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s chilling is so many Americans buying into it.<\/p>\n

But we\u2019re here today to talk about something closer to home. My partner-in-opinion Tom Wrobleski discussed it last week, too.<\/p>\n

The mayor and New York City Police Department decided in to \u201cencrypt\u201d NYPD police radio calls on Staten Island. We aren\u2019t alone. The rest of the city is shut out, too.<\/p>\n

So in February, police scanner chatter went dark.<\/p>\n

Their reasoning is the theory that the bad guys could monitor the transmissions and know where the good guys are at any time. <\/p>\n

Most of our neighbors probably don\u2019t spend evenings listening to police radio chatter, so why should you care?<\/p>\n

Because we did, the reporters and editors at the Advance\/SILive.com. It\u2019s the best, and often the only way we can get you news of crime happening in your neighborhood.<\/p>\n

That you should care about.<\/p>\n

\"VideoThe above photo taken from a surveillance video depicts a male punching a 62-year-old man in the head on July 15, 2024. Courtesy, Alarmingly AffordableThird-Party-Submitted\"CloveThe attack occurred on Howard Avenue near Clove Road in Sunnyside on July 15, 2024.Google<\/p>\n

Last year, a 17-year-old was shot in the leg in a park across from McKee High School in St. George. The only way our reporters found out about it was a tip from a reader.<\/p>\n

Imagine. The only source of news for parents, St. George residents and businesspeople about a shooting outside a high school could well have been from unverified, unreliable rumors on social media.<\/p>\n

Not long after, a 62-year-old man was brutally attacked by a mob of teens on Clove Road near Howard Avenue in Sunnyside. He was bloodied and lost teeth. The mob attacked him just for the sake of attacking. <\/p>\n

This time, it took a week for a concerned Staten Islander to call, wondering why the attack was never reported or why no arrests were made.<\/p>\n

Our reporters got into it, the borough president then condemned it and suddenly, the NYPD was all over it. Two were arrested a month later.<\/p>\n

\"\"The NYPD closed a portion of Richmond Hill Road after an accident. (Staten Island Advance\/Joseph Ostapiuk)<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not only about crime. It could be a major car accident that shuts down Hylan Boulevard. Or a missing child. Or something weather-related that the NYPD is responding to, like downed wires, icy and unpassable roads or neighborhood flooding.<\/p>\n

The NYPD will tell you they have an Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information (DCPI), and all news inquiries should be directed there.<\/p>\n

Sounds good. It\u2019s not. DCPI deals with the five boroughs and as you might guess, Staten Island is not always high on the priority list.<\/p>\n

There is a solution. Right now, there is a bill on Gov. Hochul\u2019s desk called Keep Police Radio Public Act, just waiting for her to do something with it.<\/p>\n

The Assembly passed it in an 85-61 vote, as did the state Senate in a 38-22 vote. If you\u2019re keeping score, our Republican representatives voted against it and our Democratic representatives voted for it. The Republicans \u2013 except Sen. Andrew Lanza \u2013 said they would have supported the bill if it called for a 10-minute delay in transmission of police calls.<\/p>\n

All it needs is the governor\u2019s signature and the NYPD would be forced to allow emergency service organizations like volunteer ambulances and journalists to again have access. She has until December 31 to make a decision. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s 73 more days you\u2019ll be kept in the dark. And if she doesn\u2019t sign it?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just another step in government controlling what you are allowed to know in a country founded upon freedom.<\/p>\n

Some called it Totalitarianism.<\/p>\n

Brian<\/p>\n

Oh by the way: \u201cStaten Island Borough President Vito Fossella today issued a statement condemning hate in all its forms and calling on Democratic leaders to hold their own accountable for rhetoric and actions that undermine decency and public trust.\u201d So read a press release from the BP\u2019s office in the wake of a report of some very ugly alleged comments made in a text thread among some of the nation\u2019s top young GOP leaders, including at least three Staten Islanders. The rest of the Staten Island GOP, as well as Staten Island Democrats, called for the same as the BP. I just wish the GOP would demand their leader, Donald J. Trump, to do the same. Perhaps you\u2019ll recall his pronouncement at the memorial for Charlie Kirk. \u201cHe did not hate his opponents,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI hate my opponents and I don\u2019t want the best for them. I can\u2019t stand my opponents . . .\u201d Sio much for unifying our nation, Mr. President.<\/p>\n

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