Now here is a development that knocks my tinfoil right off.
Recall that Chief Rodney Monroe blew into town and fired existing CMPD spokespeople, saying he’d do the job himself and save money to boot. He does that for several months. The past few weeks, however, Monroe and CMPD experience some negative press, including stories that involve Monroe’s family members and top CMPD officials and practices. Rumors circulate that Monroe has even started putting out false info in order to ID any leakers in the department.
And then on Friday comes word the WBTV’s police beat reporter Rob Tufano is jumping the fence to be CMPD’s new spokesman. Tufano has proven to have excellent sources and is a former cop, so Monroe has not just hired some PR flack, he’s got an in-house investigator. (Sorry, PR flacks, you know what I mean.)
This make anyone else go, Hmmmm? I got questions about the timing, regardless. If it were a quick turn-around deal — dare we ask how long the job was posted? — that would indicate Monroe was in a rush to get the slot filled, particularly if few candidates were brought in. Why might that be? But if Tufano applied for the post some time ago, that makes me wonder about the propriety of having him continue to cover a potential future employer. Did management at WBTV even know Tufano wanted the CMPD job?
In retrospect, viewers can certainly be excused for wondering if Tufano’s soft-sell Thursday night on the CMPD cop who shot himself at the shooting range story, ie, millions of rounds, one had to go astray sooner or later, was influenced in any way by the new job he had lined up.
