Posted on 02/24/2016 6:05:00 PM PST by TroutStalker
It started with a reporter's attempt to learn whether problem police officers were moving from department to department. It resulted in legislation that is again bringing national scrutiny to the Virginia General Assembly: a bill that could keep all Virginia police officers' names secret.
In a climate where the actions of police nationwide are being watched as never before, supporters say the bill is needed to keep officers safe from people who may harass or harm them. But the effort has drawn the attention of civil rights groups and others who say police should be moving toward more transparency -- not less -- to ensure that troubled officers are found and removed.
If it is made law, experts say the restriction would be unprecedented nationwide.
The Virginia Senate has already approved Senate Bill 552, which would classify the names of all police officers and fire marshals as "personnel records," exempting them from mandatory disclosure under the state's freedom of information law. The Republican-dominated Virginia House will consider the bill in hearings starting Thursday. Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) has not taken a position on the bill yet, his spokesman said.
State Sen. John A. Cosgrove Jr. (R-Chesapeake) -- citing that he knew many police officers and their families -- said: "The culture is not one of respect for law enforcement anymore. It's really, 'How, how can we get these guys? What can we do?' . . . Police officers are much more in jeopardy. There's no nefarious intent behind the bill."
Pushback has been strong. "To say every officer's name ought to be confidential," said Claire Gastañaga, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, "is just a step too far in government secrecy. We are dangerously close to a police state in some respects."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Far too lenient to say dangerously close. We are already there many times over.
Nope.
With understatement worthy of an English Lord:
This is a terrible idea, chaps!
In Florida we have police getting special privileges on their personal taxes. Every normal citizens personal info on property ownership is otherwise public record accessible on the internet. But the LEO are shielded (for what is said to be there protection) but in reality the hidden data allows for special treatment by tax assessors that the public cannot scrutinize.
Very bad threshold when the elite public servants are the only ones that ‘internally police’ themselves and everyone else MUST trust. Breeds corruption.
Virginia has had some interesting times with open records. A state newspaper published the names and addresses of all CCW carriers.
Also, if one makes "due process" impossible against bad actors within the system, this will (by definition) risk making (ahem) "undue process" more likely.
But bureaucrats never think more than two seconds into the future or more than 0.553 millimeters deep.
It won’t keep names secret from criminals, but it may protect officers from the media.
Not to mention that the lack of information is information itself.
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