Post by Shuftin on Jan 20, 2007 0:34:35 GMT -5
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Baton Rouge police officers investigated for alleged misconduct after Hurricane Katrina didn't do anything serious enough to give the public a right to know about it, a state judge has ruled.
District Judge Kay Bates, who looked at the records privately, ruled Thursday in a lawsuit brought by The Advocate for records of the police internal affairs investigation.
Five officers were investigated after New Mexico troopers reported seeing Baton Rouge officers damage property, fire Tasers at people who were not under arrest and punch handcuffed suspects. State troopers from Michigan also reported inappropriate conduct.
Both groups came to East Baton Rouge parish to help after the hurricane, and stopped working with the Baton Rouge Police Department after reporting the misconduct.
The Baton Rouge officers' actions were "not of such a serious or heinous nature so as to require serious discipline," Bates wrote in her ruling.
"Because the conduct at issue was not egregious, the officers' reasonable privacy interests are not outweighed by the public's right to know," she wrote.
Public records law bars disclosure of a law enforcement officer's home address, photograph or any other information deemed confidential unless the officer agrees to its release, she noted.
When the newspaper went to court, the city-parish also filed a suit asking a judge to decide what information must be released, saying it wanted to avoid violating officers' privacy rights.
After the out-of-state troopers' complaints, the Baton Rouge Police Department reported that Cpl. Cleveland Thomas was suspended in December 2005 for conduct unbecoming an officer and Officer Robert Rachal was given a letter of reprimand for failing to carry out orders.
The names of the other officers have not been disclosed.
Carl Redman, executive editor of The Advocate, said Bates' ruling "flies in the face of public accountability" and "makes the police accountable only to the police."
He said the public still does not know the details of what the out-of-state officers reported. "It was serious enough for those officers to pack their bags," Redman said.
Redman said he will meet with legal counsel before deciding whether to appeal.
Baton Rouge Police spokesman Cpl. Don Kelly said the department is pleased with the ruling.
"We believe it is an important decision that considers the rights of both police officers and citizens," Kelly said in a statement. "Most importantly, it preserves the integrity of our internal investigations process, which is essential to being able to protect the public from potential police misconduct."
Parish Attorney Wade Shows said Bates' ruling makes it clear that decisions in similar cases in the future will be determined case by case.
"The judge made it clear that there is a balancing act" between an officer's privacy rights and the public's right to know, Shows said.
Bates said officers need to know the information they provide during internal affairs investigations will be kept confidential. Making such records public would subject officers later found innocent to needless and undue embarrassment, he said.
www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5961301
District Judge Kay Bates, who looked at the records privately, ruled Thursday in a lawsuit brought by The Advocate for records of the police internal affairs investigation.
Five officers were investigated after New Mexico troopers reported seeing Baton Rouge officers damage property, fire Tasers at people who were not under arrest and punch handcuffed suspects. State troopers from Michigan also reported inappropriate conduct.
Both groups came to East Baton Rouge parish to help after the hurricane, and stopped working with the Baton Rouge Police Department after reporting the misconduct.
The Baton Rouge officers' actions were "not of such a serious or heinous nature so as to require serious discipline," Bates wrote in her ruling.
"Because the conduct at issue was not egregious, the officers' reasonable privacy interests are not outweighed by the public's right to know," she wrote.
Public records law bars disclosure of a law enforcement officer's home address, photograph or any other information deemed confidential unless the officer agrees to its release, she noted.
When the newspaper went to court, the city-parish also filed a suit asking a judge to decide what information must be released, saying it wanted to avoid violating officers' privacy rights.
After the out-of-state troopers' complaints, the Baton Rouge Police Department reported that Cpl. Cleveland Thomas was suspended in December 2005 for conduct unbecoming an officer and Officer Robert Rachal was given a letter of reprimand for failing to carry out orders.
The names of the other officers have not been disclosed.
Carl Redman, executive editor of The Advocate, said Bates' ruling "flies in the face of public accountability" and "makes the police accountable only to the police."
He said the public still does not know the details of what the out-of-state officers reported. "It was serious enough for those officers to pack their bags," Redman said.
Redman said he will meet with legal counsel before deciding whether to appeal.
Baton Rouge Police spokesman Cpl. Don Kelly said the department is pleased with the ruling.
"We believe it is an important decision that considers the rights of both police officers and citizens," Kelly said in a statement. "Most importantly, it preserves the integrity of our internal investigations process, which is essential to being able to protect the public from potential police misconduct."
Parish Attorney Wade Shows said Bates' ruling makes it clear that decisions in similar cases in the future will be determined case by case.
"The judge made it clear that there is a balancing act" between an officer's privacy rights and the public's right to know, Shows said.
Bates said officers need to know the information they provide during internal affairs investigations will be kept confidential. Making such records public would subject officers later found innocent to needless and undue embarrassment, he said.
www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5961301