In season two episode one of The Wire, Avon Barksdale’s trail of brutality has finally landed him in prison. Then the visits start…
Senior allies drop by because loyalty in a tight and politically aware system quickly outruns optics. NZ Police just rewrote the episode and resurrected the plot in its own flip the script Kiwi way.
Enter Jevon McSkimming, a Police Commissioner (metaphorically) behind bars and colleagues Sam Hoyle, Police Assistant Commissioner, and Tania Kura Deputy Police Commissioner, reportedly checking in on him after charges were laid.
This is the moment where public perception and internal culture collide. Now, I’ve heard cops say ‘we’re the biggest gang in New Zealand’. I mention it because inside an institution with that mentality, visiting a former colleague can feel like a debt owed, a risk worth taking, and dare I say, simple human decency. And to some degree it is.
Here’s the rub, it’s not what you say but *what they hear*. As comms pros we love thinking about the audience. And from the outside, the visits look like the blue wall quietly closing ranks. In a small country like NZ, that tension, that sense of Us versus Them, is amplified. What feels normal at an organisational scale is perceived, no matter the intentions, as tone-deaf at a national scale.
Avon Barksdale, Stringer Bell, and the rest of The Wire crew teach this well (usually with murder). Loyalty is valued above all else, but it also traps people in behaviours that make sense inside the institution. Unfortunately, these behaviours make headlines outside it. These cops are not being judged by their intentions; they’re being judged by their actions, which happened while the Independent Police Conduct Authority was investigating. Not a great look.
The takeaway is simple, remember who you serve. In this case that’s the people, and then put them first when it comes to your very-in-the-public-eye-decision-making. Leaders need to weigh the instinct to support a colleague against the obligation to be seen doing the right thing – and to understand how those choices read in the court of public opinion. That or they need to listen to the advice their PR team gave them, or perhaps get a better one if they joined in on the omerta pact. We’re all fallible!
PR Pro Tip: Before acting on loyalty, pause and as we often recommend, think in headlines. Ask yourself, “Would I be ok if my mom read about this in the paper?” If not, rethink it. Even Avon would tell you that.
P.S. I’ve been waiting to use The Wire for so long. And deep down, I always thought it would be Omar, not Barksdale. I assumed the lede would be something along the lines of ‘It’s all in the game, baby – Welcome to Pop Culture PR.’ What a show. Still my fav.
