The Waiting Game

This has been the most waitingest week of all time for me.

Monday: The Stakeout

A 5 year old girl is missing. A big, organized search is going on in town. A 'person of interest' is questioned by police. The news gods in town decide that they need a shot of this person leaving the police station.

As a result, photographers from all the TV stations (me included) get to spend the entire day sitting/standing/pacing in an asphalt parking lot for their entire shifts. I arrive at 2:00 when my shift starts. Right at the hottest part of the day on one of the hottest days of the year. The brilliant part about this is that I was sent over without being told what I was doing so I didn't get to bring water, food or reading material.

When we are on a stakeout like this where we are waiting to get a shot of a person coming out of a building we never know when they'll come out. So we have our cameras set up aimed at a door while we stand/sit/pace next to them.

The problem is if this person comes rushing out and tries to leave quickly we have to jump into action and get our shot. Otherwise we miss the whole thing. If I were to miss the shot and we were the only station without it, it doesn't matter what I did on my last breaking news live shot or how many awards I've won, I'm in a lot of trouble. Same thing goes for all the other photogs. So every time a person walks outside for a smoke break, or to leave work, or to bring a bag full of garbage out, we all have to look at them to make sure they aren't our guy. Lucky for us, there was a patch of shade we were able to hang out in. I'm sure the sight of 4 guys with their big cameras, huddled in a small patch of shade in the parking lot amused many of the people working in the police station.

It turns out the cops let this guy go without charging him and they snuck him out of a side door. Eight hours worked and not a single frame of video shot.

Tuesday: At The Park

Little girl is still missing. There is an organized search and the command post is at a local park. The family is there and we need someone to be there 'just in case something happens." Meaning if the girl is found we can get reaction from searchers and family.

I don't have much to shoot since the day shift guys shot all the stories for the show. So I sit. I sit in the park with my camera and do alot of watching. I watch the family of the girl sit around and eat free food that has been donated by local businesses for the search. I watch the mom of this missing girl sit and smoke a pack of cigarettes while 8 months pregnant. I watch them sit and talk to friends and neighbors who come by the park to see how they are doing. I see a reporter for another station almost run over a guy biking through the park.

There is a press conference in the evening so I actually get to shoot some video for the day. Then a 20 year old girl wanders into traffic next to the park and gets hit by a car. So I get to cover that story too.

Wednesday: The Jury Deliberates

Good news: I'm not on the missing girl story. Bad news: I get to sit outside again for my entire shift.

A high profile case has gone to the jury. The defense didn't defend so it should be pretty cut and dried but they do need to discuss 15 counts. We know that they should come to a decision soon but we don't know exactly when. So we sit and wait.

TV cameras aren't allowed in the federal courthouse so we get to sit outside in front. There are no benches. There are no seats. There isn't any space for us to put our own chairs. There are some large planters that serve as a blockade for anyone who might want to drive a van full of explosives up the front steps. We can sit on these planters but they aren't comfortable and after a few minutes make your back hurt. This is where the news photographers sit/stand/pace during the day.

An interesting dynamic that develops during this kind of thing is how we end up being friends with our 'competition'. News producers look at the other stations as the enemy to be conquered and beaten in the ratings. Out in the field we obviously spend a lot of time with the reporters and photographers for the other stations. We chat. We get to know each other pretty well. I've spent more time with a couple of guys this week than I will all month with my wife. There's kind of a sense of camraderie amongst the worker bees. So these things are not always as bad as we like to think they are. I've worked at three of the four stations in Salt Lake so it's good to catch up with some of my former co-workers. Plus news photographers, by nature, like to bitch and moan a lot. So it's a great opportunity to do that.

We are on the shady side of the building and it's breezy. We talk about our equipment, our stations, how our freelance work is going, shows we've seen and other mundane crap to fill the afternoon.

The jury finally comes to a decision sometime around 7. Then it's back to work. Set up for a live shot. We cut into programming. Then rush back across the street to get reaction from family, prosecutors and jury. Then rush to the back of the courthouse to get a shot of the guy being taken back to jail. Then quickly write and edit the story and do another live shot at 9 for the news. The End for Wednesday.

Thursday: Internet Crimes Against Children

A little more activity for today. Local law enforcement is serving some arrest warrants on men who solicit sex from teenage girls on the internet. We are invited to go along and tape these dopes being arrested. I went to the police station to meet up with the cops. I found out that their meeting time was more of a suggestion. So we wait for everyone to show up and get briefed.

They wanted to serve eight warrants but for different reasons they only had four ready. They go out in teams to knock on doors and hope the suspects are home and then arrest them. This kind of thing is not nearly as exciting as the movies make it out to be. The proper term , I believe, is 'hurry up and wait'. There was no door smashing, or foot chases, or yelling or even resistance. One guy wasn't home so his dad (yes he's in his 40s and still lives with his parents) called him. We waited until he showed up and they took him into custody without incident.

One guy had moved out of state, another wasn't around. And the last guy answered the door when they knocked and gave up without a fight. So I got two arrests on video. Not too bad. I was hoping for more of a 'Cops' kind of an experience: running in and confronting some shirtless, toothless drunk while he's perpetrating some kind of devious act over the computer. But not this time. Now it's my weekend.