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Thursday, March 30, 2006
Fighting the law
By Cathy Scott Las Vegas City Life
Published: 3/30/06 Excerpt:
What began as a simple request for two mug shots has turned into a handful of formal complaints filed against Metro Police.
Todd
Bensman, an investigative producer for CBS-11 News, a CBS owned and
operated station in Dallas, recently picked up the phone to call
Metro's media office. On the other end was Sgt. Chris Jones.
Bensman
and Jones have differing stories as to how the conversation went. But
one thing is sure: Bensman did not get the perp photos he requested
without a fight. That's because Jones attached a stipulation to handing
over the pics: Provide details as to what CBS's coverage was going to
be, plus get the detective with the law enforcement agency in Dallas to
contact Jones to tell him that releasing police photos would not
jeopardize the Dallas investigation. ...
Putting a condition on a request for mug shots? That is not standard
procedure, said Barry Smith, executive director of the Nevada Press
Association.
"If it's public information, it's public
information," Smith said. "Nothing prevents an officer from asking what
they're going to use them for, but you give them the photos anyway."
Dr.
Roy Peter Clark, senior scholar at the Poynter Institute in St.
Petersburg, Fla., agreed: "So what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?
Time and time again government agencies, including agencies that are
supposed to enforce the law, refuse to grant citizens, including the
press, access to certain public information. They make all kinds of
excuses for why they're doing it. They use things like 'ongoing
investigation' as an all-purpose security blanket, and they should be
ashamed of themselves, especially since their duty is to enforce the
law."
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