By Mark Thornton
Would you want to know about a rash of burglaries in your neighborhood? Or a series of purse-snatchings at a local shopping center? Or a rapist stalking a certain area of your city? Of course you would.
But, as the law stands now, there is nothing to compel law enforcement officials to make that information public. Backward-thinking law enforcement officials see these things as an embarrassment to them, as if the citizens are going to point their fingers at police for not doing their jobs. Some say that the information would create panic. We would argue that the information would create prudence. Officials also complain that information crucial to the investigation might be revealed. That’s a legitimate concern.
That’s why those of us on the Mississippi Press Association’s Governmental Affairs Committee proposed that the Legislature work with law enforcement to produce a standardized incident report — who?-what?-when?-how?-why? — that we reporters could use to inform the public about incidents they have a right to know about.
This isn’t just The Press vs. The Police, with a bunch of Woodward and Bernstein wannabes breathlessly demanding open records and suggesting coverups and conspiracies. It’s simply a practice that would be mutually beneficial — for law enforcement, reporters and citizens.
Clarion-Ledger columnist Sid Salter stated our case eloquently and compellingly and Jim Prince of Philadelphia made it hit home with legislators and Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck, who joined us for lunch last week. Prince told them they would want to know if a store their mother shops at had been targeted by purse-snatchers.
Isn’t that obvious?
By not telling us things like that, police show more concern for protecting someone’s business than for protecting the general citizenry.
Letting citizens know what to watch for gives law enforcement thousands more eyes. That’s why the Amber Alert system has been so successful. Locally, three burglars have been caught in the county this year at least partially because residents were warned via the media to be on the lookout.
Here, we have a good working relationship with law enforcement agencies. Arrest reports are always provided — which means an incident had to happen, and there had to be a victim — but the reporting of incidents is hit-and-miss at best. That’s not to suggest that anyone is hiding anything. If anything, the release of information here is hampered by the fact that our law enforcement agencies are too small and too busy to be on the phone dealing with reporters’ requests. Making incident reports public would cut down on at least 80 percent of our calls to them. We could pick up the reports at the station every day. That’s the way it works in many small towns and big cities.
For those who think we would be irresponsible with the information, let me remind you that the name of every rape and molestation victim is listed in open court records. Yet you don’t ever see their names in print (unless the victim agrees).
See, we can be reasonable. And this is a reasonable request — for us, them and you.
Mark Thornton is editor of The Star-Herald.
