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Baltimore Man Wrote The Book On Handling Crises

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- You've seen it happen time and time again here in Baltimore and around the country: a crisis that plays out in the public eye.

Ron Matz has more from a man who's been in the middle of such storms and who's just written a book on how to handle them.

In August 1997, a city police officer shot and killed a man with a knife outside Lexington Market. It was a crisis for the department and then-spokesman Rob Weinhold.

"I took representing the city police department very, very seriously. I felt like it was an awesome responsibility. It gave me the opportunity to learn a lot more about the media and public policy, politics and so on and I've just followed my passion," Weinhold said.

Nearly 20 years later, Weinhold's business, The Fallston Group, helps citizens and companies deal with the worst of times.

"We decided to write tightly woven, narrow stories about people who have gone through crises and what lessons are to be learned from each of these people who ultimately ended up turning adversity into advantage," Weinhold said.

His new book, The Art of Crisis Leadership, was written with Kevin Cowherd.

Weinhold says social media and video have changed the world. Ray Rice is a great example.

"Anyone with a recording device and an internet connection can wreak havoc on your brand immediately," Weinhold said.

Tiger Woods and David Letterman handled sex scandals differently. Recently, Chipotle is in the midst of a PR nightmare.

Locally, Cafe Hon owner Denise Whiting experienced another PR nightmare in the fight over the word "Hon."

"We built a crisis management and communications company that will be seven years old in November. We have a high-performing team. We deal with many unique issues, which is really fun because no two days are the same," Weinhold said.

His message resonates everywhere. In today's turbulent world, it's not a matter of if a crisis will occur---it's when.

"One of the mantras of our business is if you don't tell your story, someone else will and when someone else tells your story, it certainly won't be the story you want told," Weinhold said.

He spent seven years as a city police officer before becoming the department's spokesman for six years. He formed the Fallston Group seven years ago.

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