Language

      Journalists are trained...or at least should be trained...to presume innocence when they are writing stories about people being arrested or on trial.

     It is more than just adding an "allegedly" in the copy. It's thinking of the person as innocent as you write.

     I never thought about law enforcement agents doing the same.

     But this seemingly common scene in a story in today's Noon news on Alabama News Network caught my attention:

 Yea, "crime tape", as common as a patrol car at the scene of a crime.

But it's different from the usual tape.

The tape on the left states a crime has been committed, while the one up top refers to what happened as an "incident", a neutral word.

I know, I'm overthinking it....it probably was requested for things that happen and require police to be present with no "crime" involved? Like what? I don't know! 

The "incident" in the CBS 8 story DID involve an allegation of crime...in Pine Hill in Marengo County.

I found one online Miami Herald article about police tape, very Miami-centric, of course, but I couldn't find another story about, or source for, "Incident Scene" tape, like the one on CBS8. 

Just to take this as far as I can, I texted The Pine Hill police chief, who was interviewed for the story, and she replied --lol--that she had not paid any attention to the tape 😀.

Yes, Tim does have too much time on his hands.