Transparency News 9/24/18

 

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Monday
September 24, 2018

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state & local news stories

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"The law undermines his efforts at making the department more accountable and transparent."

The single sentence in the North Carolina 911 dispatcher notes nearly leap off the page: “The patient with the gun shot [sic] wound to the head also has a gunshot wound to the chest.” Through use of the Freedom of Information Act, the Danville Register & Bee obtained the Caswell County 911 report of the Sept. 14 attack that left a woman dead and her adult daughter hospitalized. Authorities jailed a former Danville businessman jailed in relation to the resulting homicide and sexual assault investigation. The report offers a glimpse into the timeline of the call and the reaction of sheriff’s deputies and ambulance crews, as well as the resulting arrest and race to a Danville hospital.
Register & Bee

When 16-year-old Jholie Moussa disappeared from her northern Virginia home in January, Fairfax County police publicized her name and her picture, hoping for a tip that would help locate her. When Jholie's body was found a few days later, police found themselves banned from identifying her by name now that she was dead. They had to get permission from Jholie's grieving family to confirm to the public that her body had been found. That's because Virginia has a new law prohibiting police from identifying juvenile homicide victims without the permission of the family. But Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler said the law unnecessarily subjects victims' families to pain and puts officers in positions they don't want to be in. "We're retraumatizing the victims," he said in a phone interview. Roessler also said the law undermines his efforts at making the department more accountable and transparent.
The Virginian-Pilot

The Virginia Lottery sells $2 billion in tickets a year, and some people seem to have all the luck. Take the biggest winner in Hampton, for example. Between 2008 and 2016, 92 people won at least 50 tickets worth $600 or more apiece, according to data from the Virginia Lottery. Some of these players are collecting prizes so frequently that their winnings appear to defy the odds. The Virginian-Pilot examined more than 280,000 lottery ticket claims and interviewed authorities on the subject – including a security specialist and a mathematics professor who studies lottery odds – in an effort to shed light on the winning streaks. Provided by The Pilot with a list of the state’s top winners, Virginia Lottery spokesman John Hagerty said the agency has no records of investigations into any of the players. The state lottery does not monitor frequent winners unless it receives reports of wrongdoing, he said.
The Virginian-Pilot

Det. Craig Roger Frye’s badge, No. 167, and his rifle, shotgun and two handguns are in storage at the Vinton Police Department, locked away until he recovers a cop’s most important asset: His credibility.  Frye lost his following clashes with colleagues, reprimands and what federal prosecutors describe as a lack of candor about his past. People he put in prison could go free as a result. Court records unsealed at the request of The Roanoke Times show that Frye’s history included run-ins with two female colleagues, a reprimand for using racially offensive language and an episode in which he talked his way out of a possible ticket or arrest, all while working in the Roanoke state and federal courts.
The Roanoke Times
 

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national stories of interest

As more governments allow and even encourage their employees to use their own cellphones and computers for work, the line between private and public communication has blurred.  “Any employee who uses a personal device for work is in peril of having that device searched to make sure there isn’t any information relevant to a public records request,” says George Crisci, an Ohio employment and labor lawyer who specializes in the public sector. Last year, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor sent state and local public employees a clear message: Be careful about what you say over email.   “You cannot assume that you can have private conversations in a public arena,” says Jenifer Schaye, the general counsel of the Louisiana Legislative Auditor. “Even though you’re having conversations on private phones and private iPads, you have to assume that at some point they’ll be reviewed by the public.”  But how much of public workers’ personal information can be revealed to the public? “Unlimited public disclosure of police officers’ confidential personnel records would put them and their families at greater risk for harassment, or worse,” said Patrick Lynch, the president of the Police Benevolent Association, last summer.
Governing

The rules for when Iowa law enforcement need to release body camera and dashboard video appear to be getting murkier. A month after a federal judge ordered the Burlington Police Department to release video of a fatal 2015 officer shooting, the Iowa Public Information Board ruled Thursday that video footage linked to the response to a different incident may remain confidential. However, in a different police video case, the Information Board issued an opinion Thursday that law enforcement shouldn’t deny access to video of officer-caused crashes by claiming the footage is part of a confidential “personnel” record, a reason cited recently by Ankeny police and the Iowa State Patrol.
Des Moines Register
 

 

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“Unlimited public disclosure of police officers’ confidential personnel records would put them and their families at greater risk for harassment, or worse.”  -- President of the Police Benevolent Association

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