Law enforcement protects and serves — and it should inform, too

The school field trip tragedy last week at Lake Macbride State Park again demonstrated the adage that a rumor can travel halfway around the globe while the truth is still putting on its shoes.

 

Government silence during a public crisis or mass-casualty event creates an information vacuum that rumor, speculation and misinformation quickly fill.

 

As the events last week north of Iowa City show, often that noise is simply wrong.

 

It need not be that way — if government officials would run toward the truth as fast as first responders head toward danger.

 

Almost always, the rumors, speculation, misinformation and errors are avoidable if government officials follow a simple rule of public service: When a serious public incident occurs, become the go-to source of information by releasing facts as quickly and frequently as you can.

 

Informing the public does not mean disclosing details that could jeopardize an ongoing investigation. It can mean requesting patience while families of victims are notified. And it certainly does not mean officials should speculate about the cause before an investigation ends.

 

But it does mean telling the public what officials know, which often is a lot.

 

The tragedy on September 22 illustrates this.

 

Johnson County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the park adjacent to the Coralville Reservoir about 12:10 p.m. after receiving a report of people in the lake. As law officers and firefighters converged, a helicopter circled overhead.

 

Yet, basic facts about the incident remained unavailable for nearly nine hours — until the sheriff’s office released a statement shortly after 9 p.m.

 

By then, bloggers and social-media users had posted claims about what occurred. One alleged a student died and a teacher was in critical condition. Another reported a teacher tried to rescue two students who had entered a spillway near the dam.

 

Facebook comments repeated other claims, including that a teacher and child were dead. Victim names readily circulated on the web even though they cited no sources.

 

When law enforcement and Iowa City school officials finally provided details that night about what had transpired, facts started to separate from fiction — but only for those who lingered to track developments about the incident.

 

That is precisely the problem. Information-hungry people often do not distinguish reality from rumor when authorities with factual details are not talking. The public may accept initial speculation as final facts.

 

This is not an argument for abandoning caution.

 

Instead, it is a call to recognize the reality of communications in 2026 — when smartphone video cameras are everywhere and social media wirelessly connects the masses to remote locations.

 

It also means that when tax money goes for salaries of government information officers, as in the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office and Iowa City Community School District, these employees should work from the outset of a crisis or tragedy to inform the community, rather than waiting for the end of the day’s search and recovery efforts.

 

By the time sheriff’s and school officials ultimately provided the public with information about the tragedy, those facts were overshadowed by a rumor mill containing a mixture of accurate and false details. Some erroneous information remains in circulation even now.

 

There is no lid on information until government speaks, nor should there be. But once emergency vehicles arrive and roads are blocked, people who see or hear about the events start posting on Facebook and X. The public learns about a tragedy, whether government officials provide information or not.

 

The choice officials face at times like this is not between saying everything and saying nothing. A better option is telling what is known and specifying what is not.

 

Explaining what cannot be released and why beats silence every time. Updating the public as additional facts are verified also ensures accuracy.

 

That progression protects the official investigation and allows for compassion while still helping the public receive reliable information about what occurred.

 

Consider what happened last March 24 outside St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic School in Ankeny.

 

A car left the school driveway, jumped the curb and struck down 16 children. Ambulances rushed the youngsters to Des Moines hospitals, while police sought to determine the cause of the crash.

 

Two months later, police announced that the 76-year-old driver had mistakenly pressed the accelerator instead of the brake. No criminal charges would be filed. Because of that decision, police said the driver’s name would not be made public.

 

By then, however, the name of a grandparent was circulating informally and police had released a log of the day’s events. But a lot of unanswered questions remained.

 

That it took two months for authorities to provide basic incident information, and did so with heavy redactions, raises another problem with withholding information.

When the identity of a key participant in a serious incident is kept confidential, reasonable people ask why and wonder whether a different driver would be afforded the same consideration under similar circumstances. The public cannot independently assess whether a person has received preferential treatment because of community standing or connections with public officials.

 

Transparency is important in maintaining public confidence in government decisions, even when officials reach a defensible conclusion about criminal charges. Plus, being open and prompt with the facts fosters accountability and understanding, just as silence leads to rumor and fiction.

 

Government officials cannot prevent people from posting speculation on social media. It is not their job to prevent fringe or sensational websites from publishing gossip and invective.

 

But officials also should not expect the public to remain accommodating when community members hunger for facts and knowledge and have the right to measure performance of their government.

 

In times of crisis, facts protect as well as inform.

And considering that timely, authoritative information is the best antidote to misinformation, law enforcement officials should embrace their duty to inform.