Law enforcement officer safety has taken the spotlight in this legislative session, and this week one of the less prominent requests on the topic moved forward in the House.
House Bill 1317 would prohibit birth dates and photographs in the personnel files of police, court and corrections employees from being given out as public records.
Supporters say the proposal could make it harder for criminals with a grudge to exact revenge, but some wonder if it would also shut out legitimate inquiries by the public and the press.
The Department of Corrections says most of its public records requests come from inmates. The agency believes one particularly imaginative prisoner requested photos of prison staff members because he wanted to post them in public on fliers claiming to show images of sex offenders, assistant secretary Scott Blonien said.
“The public disclosure process by and large in the hands of an inmate is a weapon that is used to get back at the staff,” Blonien told the House Ways and Means Committee before it unanimously approved the bill Monday.
Jamie Daniels, director of the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs, told legislators that after the murder of four Lakewood police officers, “Lakewood was barraged with requests for children’s Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses of the officers.”
All of that information is already exempt from disclosure under the law. But Daniels said later that her point was that the department had to spend time fighting those media requests.
Public employees also wanted their birth dates redacted from a host of other public records, such as court files and pension information, but newspapers said that would make it even harder for the press to investigate where tax money goes and what lies in officials’ pasts. Birth dates can be used to distinguish between employees with the same name.
Rowland Thompson, director of Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington, said removing photos from the public record could make it harder for the media to get images from cameras that record police traffic stops or violent incidents inside jails or prisons.
“It seems odd to us,” Thompson said, “that you don’t want to disclose something that is posted in the lobby of any police department and you generally make public employees wear them around their neck for everyone to see.”
Jordan Schrader: 360-786-1826
jordan.schrader@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/politics
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.