Bill shields Mass. police misconduct from public scrutiny
Published 7:05 pm Thursday, October 15, 2015
- Bill shields Mass. police misconduct from public scrutiny
BOSTON — As lawmakers debate ways to improve citizens’ access to government records, they are also considering a controversial plan to shield investigations of police misconduct from the media and general public.
A proposal by state Rep. Nick Collins, D-Boston, adds documents “related to any review of conduct of police officers which could result in disciplinary action” to a list of government materials exempted from public disclosure.
Open government advocates say Collins’ bill will allow investigations of alleged police brutality to be kept private.
“This is contrary to sound public policy and contrary to the public’s right to know,” said Bob Ambrogi, executive director of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association, who testified against the bill at a committee hearing last week. “If police are engaging in misconduct or brutality, the public has every right to know this.”
Recent court decisions have held that files about police misconduct should be made public.
In 2003, the state Appeals Court ruled that records related to an internal affairs investigation of claims that a Worcester police officer used excessive force are public records.
The case involved a request by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette for records of the investigation, which was rejected by the city’s police department.
However, the appeals court ruled that such investigations — including interviews, reports, conclusions and recommendations — should be made public.
“A citizenry’s full and fair assessment of a police department’s internal investigation of its officers’ actions promotes the core value of trust between citizens and police essential to law enforcement and the protection of constitutional rights,” wrote then-Appeals Court Justice Joseph Grasso Jr.
Secretary of State Bill Galvin, whose office reviews appeals of decisions to withhold records from the public, has dozens of pending cases involving requests for police records and other law enforcement documents that officials deem to be exempt from the law.
Collins, whose legislation hasn’t garnered much attention, did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Officials from the Massachusetts Association of Police Chiefs and New England Police Benevolent Association — two of the state’s largest police groups — didn’t return requests for comment. And the Massachusetts Association of State Police also declined comment through it’s Beacon Hill-based public relations firm.
Ironically, lawmakers are also considering several proposals to overhaul the state’s decades-old public records law, which watchdogs say is full of exemptions and provides no penalty for violations.
The state consistently gets failing grades for transparency from open government groups.
One proposal, filed by Rep. Peter Kocot, D-Northampton, would limit fees for access to public records and direct cities, towns and state agencies to appoint someone to handle requests for records. The proposal compels local officials to pay legal fees if they deny a request and the decision is later overturned by a court.
A vote on the bill has been postponed amid concerns by cities and towns over the cost of implementing it.
In August, Gov. Charlie Baker directed his administration to improve access to public records by requiring state agencies to designate employees who will respond to and track requests for information. Those changes don’t require approval from voters or the Legislature.
Meanwhile, Galvin has proposed a question for the 2016 ballot to reform the open records law. His changes would give his office more power to investigate delays in providing public records and enforce the law, while limiting how much state agencies and local police and fire departments can charge the public for access to records.
Howard Friedman, a Boston-based civil rights attorney who specializes in police misconduct cases, said the advent of smartphones and video technology makes it difficult to keep allegations of police brutality under wraps.
Shielding internal affairs investigations from the public, he said, won’t make the accusations go away.
“Hiding the allegations makes no sense,” he said. “Transparency is a better way to deal with it. If you protect police officers accused of misconduct from disclosure, you are encouraging misconduct.”
Christian Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach him at cwade@cnhi.com.