Hot Spot

So today was my first big reporting day!

I'm working on a story about the Hot Spot campaign in District 5. The campaign is aimed at residents in the district (which includes Overtown and Liberty City) to report crimes and suspicious activity anonymously. The organization which oversees the distribution of these cards is P.U.L.S.E (People United to Lead the Struggle for Equality). I wanted to know if, after the recent shooting in Liberty City last week and after a number of shootings in the area, if the Hot Spot cards have been used as a way for officials to get tips on the case.

Once I got the assignment, I called the information line which was listed online, and ended up speaking to P.U.L.S.E's Executive Director, Nathaniel Wilcox. I initially thought it would be a relatively quick phone interview, but I wasn't really understanding him (I was on my cell phone and reception was bad). He invited me to the P.U.L.S.E office so that I can take a look at the cards myself.

Once I got off the phone, I made a beeline for Reisner's office. I was going into an interview relatively blind, and I wanted some advice on how to go about it. I called him and caught up with him on campus to fill him in. He was really excited about it and gave me some good pointers which helped me a lot during the interview.

I felt really good during the interview. I listened and asked questions off of what Wilcox had just said, but I also had a framework of what I wanted to ask in mind. He gave me some good info, but I'm not sure it's a story. I need to write out the notes I took to see what I can get from it, and I'm honestly pretty worried because I want this to pan out since it's my first *BIG* story for publishing. Wilcox gave me the name and phone number for Major McGee of the City of Miami police in order to get the # of Hot Spot cards returned from Liberty City. I basically got the runaround until I spoke with someone in the Liberty City NET (Neighborhood Enhancement Team) office. She told me that info would probably be best kept by PULSE...so it's back to square one I guess. By the time she told me this it was almost 5 p.m., so I'm gonna have to call tomorrow. I'm a little frustrated at the runaround, but not disheartened. One way or another, the story will come together.