Does the Gazette report the Facts, or do they have an agenda and “Filter” the news? 

Yesterday (03/05/17) the Colorado Springs Gazette published a story about all the anonymous letters being sent to the media concerning the conditions at both the El Paso County sheriff’s Office (EPSO) and the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD).  Read Story.  But they showed their true colors in the title; “Torrent of leaks pouring from El Paso County, Colorado Springs Law Enforcement”.  So according to the Gazette the real story is the “leaks”; not the fact that the work environment and corruption is so bad employees feel they have no choice but to write anonymous letters to the media reaching out for help.  But what does Kaitlin Durbin do?  She doesn’t investigate the issues, she just talks with Sheriff Bill Elder and Police Chief Carey and reports what they have to say.  Investigative reporting is dead.  The days of a reporter going out and finding informants who tells them the “real” story are over.  They wonder why no one will talk with them; it’s because they can’t be trusted.  Many we have talked with have stated their lack of trust of the Gazette reporters;   specifically Lance Benzel.

The Gazette completely dismisses a major issue at EPSO with one statement; Recently, Sheriff Bill Elder denied claims made in one anonymous letter that said he showed favoritism and nepotism when hiring and promoting.”  If Elder denies it that’s the end of the story? This is one of the major issues with Elder and Kaitlin Durbin does absolutely nothing to investigate it.    We provided verifiable facts that Elder hired many of his campaign supporters and gave them high salaries.  Elder gave someone with no law enforcement experience a job as a Lieutenant, gave his campaign manager, with no relevant skills, a high paying job as his chief of staff,  promoted her husband to Sergeant and then Lieutenant in just over a year (which is out of policy).  Read story.  We provided information about misappropriation of 1A funds (read story) and that Elder covered up a Sexual Harassment (read story). What else does the media want? It is becoming so obvious the Gazette is in Elder’s pocket.  Multiple facts could be easily verified by submitting a few CORA requests and asking some hard questions of Bill Elder and his leadership team.

Then the Gazette has the audacity to suggest the real issue is with the employees and provides an expert to explain three main reasons why employees might leak information.  The Gazette even makes the statement; “Leaks coming out the CSPD last year appeared to fall under the last category”  suggesting CSPD officers only want more money.   So Kaitlin Durbin leads the readers down the road of “Don’t worry about it, it’s just a bunch of disgruntled employees who want more money”  Is this an editorial or a news story?  This is why no one trusts the media anymore; they have agendas.  According to Gallop polls trust of media has hit an all time low. Read Story.

“” is reporting what is going on at EPSO and the Gazette can’t even find a single person who will talk with them.  The last paragraph of their story says it all:

Whether complaints have been verifiable or not, the leakers show no sign of stopping. The anonymous penmen scrutinizing Elder have created a website where their accusations are placed directly before the public’s eye without media filtering. Carey’s critics are finding more aggressive ways to be heard and indicate they’ll keep fighting until they see results.

It’s amazing; the Gazette openly admits they “Filter” the news.  WTF? Well, we DON’T!!!  We provide you the facts and let you decide.  Let’s review that statement again; The Gazette admitted in a story they are Filtering the news for Elder and Carey.  The Gazette should be embarrassed; they just told hard working cops, who put their lives on the line everyday for our community, to; “Shut up and stop complaining“; or as EPSO employees say they are told by their supervisors; “Shut up and Color“.

Wonder if the Gazette will report on our next story.  “Did Chief Carey and Sheriff Bill Elder, in a public meeting, provided false information to the Attorney General, Cynthia Coffman?” Spoiler alert, YES THEY DID; and we will publish the public document to prove it!  Article will be posted tomorrow.

The Gazette and Kaitlin Durbin did our community a serious disservice with their story.

At least we now know who stands with us and who doesn’t.

Who will stand up for our Cops?

Silence is the Endorsement of Corruption



The following is a comment posted on the Gazette’s website concerning the story referenced above.  Shortly there after it was deleted.  We can only assume by the Gazette.  Who else has access to remove posts?  If you read later posts by the author is was not removed by her.   We have attached the comment because we believe it is relevant. So, it appears  the Gazette not only “Filters” news, they censor community comments.  One would think a newspaper would support the 1st amendment.

You might want to hurry up and go read all the other comments before the Gazette deletes them too. Link to BLOG.