Idaho Falls mayor tells police to limit ‘troublesome info’ to public

IDAHO FALLS — How much information should the city send out about crime and emergencies?

That was the private debate between Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper and Police Chief Bryce Johnson during the busy news week of Jan. 22.

Emails and text messages obtained by EastIdahoNews.com through a public records request show Casper became concerned with the amount of information the police department was releasing to the media and public.

Her feelings seemed to be different four months ago when she was running for re-election. During an EastIdahoNews.com election forum, she said she and the city were transparent.

“Transparency is such a popular concept. It actually refers to how open and understandable and accessible your government is,” Casper said in October. “We (the city) have a new and improved website, we participate in apps that help citizens access information, we maintain a wide variety of social media pages (and) we participate in sending out press releases, sometimes multiple press releases in a single day, just to share with the public what kinds of things are going on.”

Although Casper seemed to have no problem with the city sending multiple press releases a day during the election, she did last month.

Jan. 22

On the morning of Monday, Jan. 22, an 11-year-old boy didn’t show up to school, so the Idaho Falls Police Department sent out an email and text alert at 9:30 a.m. The child was found at Walmart a short time later thanks to public notifications.

At 10:30 a.m., another news release was distributed from the police department about Matthew Jedediah “Jed” Hall, a distraught teenager who left his home with firearms. Police didn’t believe Hall was a danger to others, but schools on the west side of Idaho Falls were locked down as a precaution.

Unfortunately, Hall is still missing.

Several hours later, the police department sent one more release about slick roads encouraging drivers to use caution after 15 crashes happened.

Jan. 23

The next day, on Jan. 23, Casper emailed Chief Johnson the following message:

I have some mild concern about all of the news out of the department yesterday. The multiple press releases on the child who was missing for a few hours and the multiple releases about the vehicle (Hall was driving) that also caused schools to shelter in place cumulatively made an impression on residents. I worry about the anxiety level. And this was capped off by another release urging residents to stay home because of poor weather/slick roads. I am all for informing residents when warranted, but we may need to look at thresholds. Too much sharing of troublesome info can become its own problem.

In the email, Casper requested a meeting with the chief, and he agreed.

A few hours later, an Idaho Falls Police officer shot and killed Shane McVey on Boulevard after investigators say McVey ran from them and displayed a weapon.

Johnson was on the scene, along with Public Information Officer Holly Cook, who provided information to EastIdahoNews.com and other media.

A news release went out, and that evening, Casper emailed Johnson and Cook:

I would prefer that we message minimally on this story from here on out. It appears that we’ve already put out two news flashes on this, and that should be enough for today. … I’m anxious that we convey a sense of order. That this is being turned over to the ISP is enough. We can be silent about the rest. … Pumping out seven or more news releases and a press conference within 48 hours is a lot. I never want to convey a sense of disorder in our community and a barrage of messages may start to do that.

Cook responded:

I’ve only submitted one news release, so I’m not sure to what you’re referring…All I have done today is facilitate media interviews, put out one Newsflash and press release. I’ve also put out two tweets regarding traffic in the area.

Casper also sent this text message to Johnson:

After the wild day we had yesterday, my sense is that whatever you can do to tone things down and convey a sense of order will be very important.

Johnson responded:

Yes. … We will still need to talk about yesterday. There are compelling safety reasons why we talked about all three of the events.

Two hours later, a drive-by shooting was called into police, and Johnson sent this text message to Casper:

When you can, please give me a call. We have had a drive-by shooting this evening and will need to get some info out in that.

Information was never sent to media outlets about the shooting that evening or the next day.

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