If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Common sense and transparency on arrests what the public expects
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
That ought to be the standard operating procedure of the city of Gilroy in general: Sidewalks are broken, so fix ’em; the police department’s public information policy isn’t broken, so don’t fix it.
Unfortunately, common sense isn’t applying in either case.
When it comes to the recent decision to tighten access to public information at the Gilroy Police Department, it appears that it was made by David Boles, the records department supervisor.
That such a wide-reaching change with constitutional implications and direct impacts on information made available to the public was made at that level is just one problem with the new policy.
The city’s job isn’t to shroud information from the public
Why wasn’t a decision of this magnitude reviewed by the city attorney, city administrator, and City Council before being made?
The new policy bars members of the general public from accessing the addresses of people who are arrested in Gilroy.
Now, anyone seeking that information must sign – under penalty of perjury – that they need it “for scholarly, journalistic, political or governmental purposes.”
The old policy that included the release of arrestees’ addresses worked fine for decades.
The change ought to concern anyone with a common first and last name combination, but even more, it ought to concern anyone concerned about open government.
Those who support the change point say that an arrest is not a conviction and that shielding arrestees’ addresses helps protect reputations.
We disagree.
It’s simply adding another layer of dubious red tape to the process
Names are released under the current policy, and addresses are available to journalists who can publish them. There’s very little actual shielding occurring, just extra, unneeded red tape that makes it difficult for members of the general public to learn if a suspected child molester or chronic drunk driver (remember the South County man who was arrested and released three times over the recent holiday season; wouldn’t you like to know if he was driving in your neighborhood every day?), for example, is living in their neighborhood.
In addition, it’s highly suspect if Boles’ new policy is the proper interpretation of the state’s Public Records Act. The policy has raised the eyebrows of open government and freedom of information advocates.
There’s no good reason to change a policy that has worked for decades, and lots of good reasons not to do so. Gilroy’s elected officials, many of whom addvocate sunshine and transparency, should see to it that the new layer of obfuscation enacted at the GPD is removed posthaste.
Act now
Send an e-mail to the acting city administrator at: an**********@ci.us
