Democratizing law enforcement data could benefit everyone — the police and the public they serve — argue Nancy La Vigne and Roy L. Austin Jr. of the Council on Criminal Justice Task Force on Policing in an Aug. 26, 2021, guest column for The Washington Post. “We cannot fix a problem we do not fully understand,” they […]
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The executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council has raised concerns about court filings in which the attorney general’s office suggests the state’s freedom of information law is not standing policy, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported Aug. 20, 2021. “I am worried that the state’s legal arguments … will be viewed by government […]
Connecticut police departments must equip all officers with body cameras by July 2022. But the bill requiring body cameras didn’t designate a state agency to oversee implementation. “There is no enforcement mechanism regarding compliance,” said Marc Pelka, the undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning at the state’s Office of Policy and Management. According to […]
Read More… from Connecticut requires police body cameras, but bill doesn’t appoint overseer
Exemptions to state public records laws allow police departments to conceal vast amounts of information and stifle meaningful discussion about police reform and accountability. According to a Washington Post analysis: All 50 states and the District of Columbia allow police departments to withhold records they consider investigatory. And in 35 states, police misconduct records are […]
The National Freedom of Information Coalition welcomes its newest member, the Florida Center for Government Accountability. Barbara A. Petersen, executive director of the Florida Center for Government Accountability, previously served on NFOIC’s Board and as president of Florida’s First Amendment Foundation. Petersen says the new organization will focus on public access and investigative journalism. “The Florida Center […]
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“If you work in government, here’s something to remember: You work for the people,” writes Kelley Shannon, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. “It’s your job to ensure citizens can interact with their government and have the information they need to hold it accountable. That includes handing over public records when […]
The National Freedom of Information Coalition and 23 other organizations joined a Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press amicus brief supporting the release of police internal affairs records in New Jersey. In July 2019, a retired New Jersey police officer submitted a New Jersey Open Public Records Act request seeking access to police internal […]
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, police began using body-worn cameras in 2015, but the public’s access to footage is limited in the state, according to WTMJ-TV. “We’re at the second phase of the battle,” said Attorney B’Ivory LaMarr, who represents the family of Joel Acevedo, who died after an off-duty police officer allegedly held him in a chokehold. […]
For more than a year, Craig Mauger, a state government reporter for The Detroit News, has been waiting on a request for State of Michigan documents related to nursing homes during the pandemic. He told WDET he’s also waiting on documents related to a sudden change in leadership at the Michigan Department of Health and […]
Read More… from What fills the void when public information is concealed? Maybe conspiracy theories
Frosty Landon, a one-time president of the National Freedom of Information Coalition board who was instrumental in advising new NFOIC coalitions in the 2000s, is being remembered as a hero and advocate for open government. Landon died July 19, 2021, at age 87. Landon, longtime editor of the Roanoke Times & World-News in Virginia, was […]
