In the wake of an incident with a Capitol Police Officer and a BloombergBNA reporter last month, Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine is assuring that his officers are not “media police.”
Roll Call‘s Hannah Hess, who writes the Hill Blotter blog, reports an email exchange with Dine in which he says he regrets the way the incident was handled and that he doesn’t expect this to be any sort of norm between officers and reporters on Capitol Hill. Dine met with press gallery staff as well as Heather Rothman, chairwoman of the Executive Committee of Periodical Correspondents, on April 10.
In late March, BloombergBNA reporter Ari Natter was stopped by an officer as he was attempting to question EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. He was briefly detained and asked for his driver’s license and social security number.
“Our folks do this on practically a daily basis almost always with skill, tact and diplomacy,” Dine told Hess.
It’s mostly true. Longtime Hill reporters and Capitol Hill Police are often pretty chummy and sometimes helpful with secret tips. There’s always exceptions to this.
Rothman, meanwhile, indicated that she’s encouraged that relations can improve between police and media.
Read more details here.