My 2 Cents: Small Props To Rocky

Count me among those who give Sheriff Rocky Watson props, albeit small ones, for airing the results of a year- long investigation into the theft of inmate medications by some of his jailers. A less scrupulous sheriff might have tried to sweep this under the rug. After all, there’s few media resources in the Lake City dedicated to investigative journalism. In the not-too-distant old days, someone would have tipped the SR to the internal sheriff’s investigation — and we would have been all over this. In a news environment where staff cuts have reduced both local newspapers to the ambulance chasers when it comes to breaking news, Watson stepped forward to provide the basic information that he was dealing with in-house wrongdoing. A few weeks ago, the sheriff told me privately that he’s worried that the lack of dedicated news coverage of local government would lead to official abuse and misconduct. Now, he’s backed up his concerns by publicly policing his own department. Some may think he didn’t go far enough. That charges should have been filed. I view Rocky’s disclosure as coming from a public official who respects transparency and is frustrated that the media watchdogs are too busy rewriting press releases.