Media influence on executive police decision-making: A case study of police and media interaction during the Oklahoma City bombing investigation and trials

The history of the relationship between police officers and the mass media is replete with hostility and suspicion from both sides. This faulty relationship causes police executives to distrust the media and to second-guess executive decisions.;It is the contention of this study that due to the extremely powerful influence that the media has on the shaping of public influence and the poor relationship with the police in general, it is surmised that the mass media also influences the decisions of police executives.;This thesis uses an exploratory case study methodology incorporating the relationship between police and the media during the Oklahoma City bombing investigation and the subsequent trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.;The findings indicate that the media only influence police executive decisions during situations in which the police and the media interact in close relationship to each other. The findings also concluded that during the Oklahoma City bombing investigation and trials, the police who were on the outer perimeter where the ones who were influenced the most and the police conducting the investigation or were tasked to court room security were influenced the least.;Therefore, it is concluded that based on the consensus of the respondents interviewed, that the media does influence police executive decisions.