Co-authored with PINAC writer Andrew Quemere
For a year and a half, the Quincy Police Department in Massachusetts has cited dubious and flat-out false reasons to deny a resident access to a police report she made about her neighbor urinating in public. In spite of the police department’s best efforts to block the request, however, we obtained a copy through unofficial means and are publishing it.
As addressed in my recent article, the Florida League of Cities is pushing for a dramatic and unwarranted change to Florida’s Public Records Act for which no empirical justification is offered.
PINAC reporter Jeff Gray conducted a public records audit at the town hall of Penney Farms last month, a tiny town in North Florida known more for its retirement community than its farms that describes itself as “one of the best kept secrets” in the state.
And judging by town clerk Anita Cooper’s refusal to comply with one of his request, it’s certainly living up to that promise.
The basic premise of Florida’s Public Records Act is that the public has a right to access any records dealing with official government business. Its purpose is to promote public awareness and knowledge of government actions to ensure the government remains accountable to the people.
Little did Florida senior citizen Rosemary Brackett suspect that a simple trip to the post office to pick up medicine for her disabled son back in June 2013 would end with her arrest and humiliation.
As the 76-year-old woman drove to the Homestead Post Office in the southern tip of Miami-Dade County and began to turn into the parking lot, a car exiting was blocking her entrance.
She began to back up to avoid a collision and allow the other driver to exit.
It took more than a decade, but the federal government finally released nearly 200 photos depicting prisoner abuse by American soldiers during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The photos were released Friday in response to an ACLU lawsuit filed in 2004 when George W. Bush was still president.
The Albuquerque Police Department has found its way into another lawsuit. This time a former employee is suing on grounds of wrongful termination for not complying to Police Chief Gorden Eden’s orders to find ways to deny public records request.
The Albuquerque Police Department is being sued again for refusing to release body camera footage showing police shooting a man to death.
The ACLU of New Mexico is representing Burque Media and other plaintiffs in a suit against the police department for denying public records requests.
The Albuquerque Police Department has encountered several other similar lawsuits in the past.
A veteran police officer in Texas lost his job after his bizarre ticket-writing habit came to light where he would send citations through certified mail to people he had never pulled over.
Houston police officer Dave Carter claimed he determined these drivers were speeding by pacing their speed from his own car while off-duty.
A Colorado cop is coming under fire after a mentally disabled woman is accusing him of having sex with her while she was drunk.
Denver police officer Travis Jackson was suspended on Tuesday by the Denver Civil Service Commission for 20 days but to the dismay of many not for sexual misconduct.
