Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 4018 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: FEBRUARY 2017 enforcement on the trans- parency issue are lawyers, city officials and those who believe that more transpar- ency could make life difficult for law enforcement. In Oklahoma, a law firm representing law enforce- ment agencies across the state recently issued some controversial advice. The lawyers have told law enforcement officers and agencies that they are within their rights to keep most re- cords and official documents from public view. Among the things the law- yers told police they could keep from prying eyes are agency budgets, payroll, contracts and inventory. One attorney for the Okla- homa City-based law firm Collins, Zorn & Wagner said most agency’s justifica- tion for refusing to release records is a section of the state’s Open Records Act. That language lists law enforcement records that are subject to public disclosure. Attorney Ammon Briso- lara said if a document that police would like to keep secret is not men- tioned specifically in the statute, law enforcement is under no obligation to make the records available. Collins, Zorn & Wagner specializes in helping gov- ernment agencies in lawsuits involving public records. According to reporting from Tulsa World, the firm represents counties and county agencies that are members of the Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma’s Self-Insurance Group. Brisolara, who’s since left the law firm, recently helped several law enforcement agencies fend off public records requests. “If it’s not in that list (in the law), it’s something that would be kept confiden- tial,” Brisolara said in an interview. “But it would depend on who has it. If the record is maintained by the county clerk, then it would be available from the county clerk.” Unlike the increase in transparency brought by the implementation of bo- dycams, some law enforce- ment agencies seem to be increasingly unwilling to provide what are considered public records. In fact, the list of records under the law enforcement section of the Open Records Act is increasingly being cited by law enforcement agencies to refuse requests for public records. “As a public agency we don’t have to show you anything unless it’s listed in there? That would be nonsense,” said Joey Senat, a journalism professor at Oklahoma State Univer- sity and a board member of Freedom of Information Oklahoma. “It seems it’s being mis- used more and more fre- quently. Now we’re getting to a point where a public agency is saying we don’t have to give you our bud- get,” Senat said. In Oklahoma, some of the records that law enforce- ment is refusing to release have to do with in-custody deaths in county jails. Some say that what’s es- sentially going on here is that the Oklahoma law re- garding public records is so vague and poorly written that agencies can refuse to release almost anything. Oklahoma law currently allows law enforcement agencies to withhold all ad- ministrative records. These would be things like budget documents, purchase and inventory records, contracts and payroll data. These are not listed as documents that must be re- leased in the Open Records Act section. However, other portions of state law say that those re- cords and others are public and must be released upon request. To say how this stuff plays out in high-profile cases, consider this: Back in late 2015, then Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz was charged by the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office with refusing to perform his official duty. The reason he was charged with a misdemeanor under the Open Records Act is because he refused to release internal investigation docu- ments related to former Re- serve Deputy Robert Bates. Bates was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter in the 2015 shooting death of Eric Harris, who was un- armed. Continued from page one Lawyers argue agencies don’t have to make records public Most people think crime is up when it’s down and vice versa. But there’s no debate about the crime reduc- tion made possible by law enforcement profes- sionals in Newark, New Jersey. Crime is down in New- ark – way down. In fact, if you want to know when the crime rates were this low you have to go back to 1967. “We’re not here today to claim victory, but we’re here to claim progress,” Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose told reporters gathered at the Newark Po- lice building on Washington Street. According to the numbers, the total number of homi- cides, shootings, robberies, and other violent crimes committed in the city are all down. Of the nine crime categories tracked in- ternally by the police department, the only increase was in aggra- vated assaults. Newark is widely con- sidered to be a law en- forcementagencywhere a variety of changes and reforms have produced incredible results for the police and the citizens Whatever the police are doing in Newark NJ is apparently working NY Police Foundation NYPD K-9 calendar available online now T he New York City Police Foundation is very proud to in- troduce our first K9 Calendar. All proceeds will directly benefit new and on- going NYPD programs and initiatives. With your $20 donation, you will receive a 13-month (January 2017 to January 2018) calendar. To order a calendar, go to their website at www. nycpolicefoundation.org/ k9calendar. Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. The good faith estimate of the value of the calendar is $2.50.