The new secret police?

[SpacemanSpiff]

Well, secret in a manner of speaking.

http://pilotonline.com/news/government/ ... f95fc.html

A bill that would allow all Virginia law enforcement officers’ names to be withheld from the public would be the first of its kind in the country, police accountability and open records advocates say.
...
The bill is part of a growing movement inside the law enforcement community to shield officers from scrutiny after a rash of controversial police shootings around the country prompted protests and increased focus on officers, said Samuel Walker, professor emeritus of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska Omaha and a longtime law enforcement scholar.

“This is part of the broader culture of shielding officers from being held accountable for their actions,” Walker said. “And this is in the absence of any specific credible evidence that officers are targeted for that request. There’s no basis for that position.”

Now, mind you, this doesn't mean that the papers can't use officers names; what it does do is to keep folks from using the state Freedom of Information Act (not one of the more friendly state FOIAs out there anyway) to get data about who is and isn't a police officer. (And, for the life of me, I can't figure out why Fire Marshalls are part of this proposed legislation.)

Beside what I quoted from the article, what seems to have got this started is that this particular paper used FOIA filings to get names, etc. of police officers in Virginia. The purpose was to track cops who had a history of "problems" and who had bounced around among various police forces to see if all that was happening with bad cops was that they were just being a policeman somewhere else.

Dissect and discuss.

[Bob Juch]

If this passes I hope Virginia has plenty of lawyers to defend the state from a federal lawsuit over the first amendment.

[Appa23]

If this passes I hope Virginia has plenty of lawyers to defend the state from a federal lawsuit over the first amendment.

<shaking head>

In the aftermath of 9/11, DoD created a policy that generally protects the identity of DoD employees from disclosure.

[Bob Juch]

If this passes I hope Virginia has plenty of lawyers to defend the state from a federal lawsuit over the first amendment.

<shaking head>

In the aftermath of 9/11, DoD created a policy that generally protects the identity of DoD employees from disclosure.

Where does the DoD come into this?

[BackInTex]

If this passes I hope Virginia has plenty of lawyers to defend the state from a federal lawsuit over the first amendment.

<shaking head>

In the aftermath of 9/11, DoD created a policy that generally protects the identity of DoD employees from disclosure.

Where does the DoD come into this?

Where does the 1st Amendment come into it?

[silverscreenselect]

Beside what I quoted from the article, what seems to have got this started is that this particular paper used FOIA filings to get names, etc. of police officers in Virginia. The purpose was to track cops who had a history of "problems" and who had bounced around among various police forces to see if all that was happening with bad cops was that they were just being a policeman somewhere else.

Dissect and discuss.

The easiest solution is just to let the cops wear disguises when they're on the job. I hear that white robes and hoods are quite stylish.

[BackInTex]

Beside what I quoted from the article, what seems to have got this started is that this particular paper used FOIA filings to get names, etc. of police officers in Virginia. The purpose was to track cops who had a history of "problems" and who had bounced around among various police forces to see if all that was happening with bad cops was that they were just being a policeman somewhere else.

Dissect and discuss.

The easiest solution is just to let the cops wear disguises when they're on the job. I hear that white robes and hoods are quite stylish.

And your true colors come out yet again.