Fall River Police Department has cut all information to Fall River Reporter for over a month

Since reporting that Fall River Police Department Chief Kelly Furtado is the highest paid, yet least qualified police chief in Fall River’s history, Fall River Reporter has been cut off from all police information. Not only have we been cut off from information, but the police department recently took our scoop and sent the details to other media outlets.

In the 15 years of covering the south coast area, I’ve never seen a media outlet cut off from information important to the public. Fall River Reporter has over 100,000 followers and reaches millions of people each month, a key source of information to Fall River residents. Police departments retaliating against local media outlets due to reporting they don’t like is a dangerous precedence to set, especially when Mayor’s like Paul Coogan allow it. It says, “report negative stories and we retaliate.” Ironically, I’ve received dozens of reports of corruption and fraud, but those people won’t go on record because they are afraid of retaliation. It’s seems to be part of Fall River’s political culture.

Freedom of the Press is in the first amendment of the consitution of the United States. Yes, the FIRST amendment. Our founding fathers knew how important the press is and mentioned it first. The Freedom Forum said it best: “Protected by the First Amendment, a free press means our government answers to the people. An independent news media uses its watchdog role to investigate and report on government overreach and wrongdoing and hold those in power accountable for their actions.”

I will continue to report relevent news important to Fall River Residents, with other without the cooperation of the Fall River Police Department.