[IP] re: apparently many police depts feel they can ignore [f.o.i] laws

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: bobr@bobrosenberg.phoenix.az.us
Date: January 14, 2007 10:43:03 AM EST
To: dave@farber.net, jwarren@well.com
Subject: Re: apparently many police depts feel they can ignore  
[f.o.i] laws

Dave & Jim

IANAL, but I wonder....

If the people WHO violate the FOIA law are sworn police officers,  
and, by that
swearing, they are sworn to uphold the law, and they are now  
violating the law, I
wonder....

I wonder if that behavior is Perjury?

Any lawyers out there in IPland?

Bob Rosenberg
P.O. Box 33023
Phoenix, AZ  85067-3023
Mobile:  602-206-2856
LandLine:  602-274-3012
bob@bobrosenberg.phoenix.az.us


> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Jim Warren <jwarren@well.com>
> Date: January 12, 2007 4:19:38 PM EST
> To: calfoi@journalism.berkeley.edu, State and Local Freedom of
> Information Issues <FOI-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>, Dave Farber
> <dave@farber.net>
> Subject: apparently many police depts feel they can ignore [f.o.i]  
> laws
>
> [A former editor of mine just sent this URL to me.  The web-link has
> adverts that load first, from an outrageously turgid ad-"server", but
> if you wait long enough, the full article is worth the wait ... in an
> appalling sorta way.  The California Public Records Act is quite
> clear about much of what these law-"enforcement" agencies chose to
> refuse to do.  I suspect one would find similar disregard in most
> states, for their open-government "laws".  --jim]
>
> > http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_4999581
>
> Audit: Cops deny records access
> Survey gives median average score of 30 out of 100 to Bay Area
> departments
>
> By Thomas Peele and Matt Krupnick, MEDIANEWS STAFF
> Article Last Updated: 01/12/2007 07:04:09 AM PST
>
> California law gives anyone the right to walk into a police
> department and inspect a wide variety of information, from crime and
> arrest reports to statistics on officer-misconduct complaints.
>
> But a statewide audit of such access released today shows a wide gap
> between the law and the reality of what happens when people ask to
> see public information at California police stations.
>
> Police often violated laws that mandate open access to public records
> and delayed for weeks the release of ordinary reports, intimidating
> people who asked for them and researching their backgrounds,
> according to the audit of more than 200 departments and California
> Highway Patrol offices, including 63 in the Bay Area.
>
> Written requests for records were sometimes ignored and some
> departments even refused to accept them.
>
> More than 60 journalists across the state - including the Alameda
> Times-Star and six other MediaNews newspapers in the Bay Area and KGO-
> TV - participated in the audit, which was conducted Dec. 4 in 34 of
> California's 58 counties.
>
> The effort was coordinated by Californians Aware, a Sacramento-based
> group that advocates transparent government and records access. The
> group aims to educate government workers and the public about
> information that every person - not just public officials or
> journalists - is entitled to see.
>
> ...<BIG snip>...



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