In Virginia, your “sacred” “right to know” isn’t respected

Reason Magazine’s Radley Balko draws attention to secrecy at the Fairfax County, Alexandria, and Arlington Police Departments.

The Fairfax, Alexandria, and Arlington police departments are among the least transparent in the country. Their application of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act allows them to turn down nearly all requests for information, as was made clear by a series of reports by reporter Michael Pope.

There is obviously something wrong here. With Freedom of Information Acts, the presumption should be on disclosure. Unlike some instances of information withholding, the officials of these departments seem to be well aware of the fact that they are infringing on citizens’ right to information. Their attitude says it all, according to Balko:

Police were not only stingy with information; they were smug and arrogant about it. When asked why she couldn’t release the name of a Virginia police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man last November, Fairfax County police spokeswoman Mary Ann Jennings replied, “What does the name of an officer give the public in terms of information and disclosure? I’d be curious to know why they want the name of an officer.”

The attitude of the spokeswoman is completely opposed to citizens’ rights. There are exemptions to the Freedom of Information Acts (FOIA), and there are instances where the case can be made for withholding information.

But the department isn’t making a case. It is claiming its authority as an excuse to keep information that is public by its nature secret, such as a public official’s name, because it can. And it doesn’t have to answer to you.

There’s more information to better paint the attitude of these departments:

After [reporter Michael] Pope’s first article on the lack of disclosure, Alexandria Commonwealth’s Attorney Randolph Sengel, the city’s elected chief prosecutor, responded with a sneering, condescending letter to the editor brimming with contempt for outsiders who try to hold law enforcement agencies accountable. “Last time I checked there were multiple safeguards in place to assure the integrity of the criminal justice system,” Sengel wrote. “Conscientious and dedicated judges, prosecutors, public defenders, and law enforcement officers work in a system which is as transparent as it needs to be…The sacred ‘right of the public to know’ is still (barely) governed by standards of reasonableness and civility.”

The “right of the public to know” is in quotes.

The public does have a right to know. And this right is, basically, sacred. The government is directly accountable to taxpayers. While checks are in place within to make sure public bodies act ethically, the most important check is the ability we have as citizens to demand answers from the people we pay to look after our interests.

Here’s hoping the hard work of Virginia reporters, like Mr. Pope, continues shining light on irresponsible police departments’.