Utah lawmakers want to close police disciplinary records
Used with permission from the Salt Lake Tribune
The state's largest police department and Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph
Becker are backing a controversial bill that would severely limit
public access to the disciplinary records of police officers.
Police Chief Chris Burbank this week cast the effort as a way to
put city cops on par with Salt Lake County officers who enjoy greater
protection of disciplinary records. In what could be a litmus test for
the new mayor on records-access issues, Becker said he is taking the
chief's advice.
"On the advice of our police chief, we support it," said Helen
Langan, a spokeswoman for Becker. "It's a sensible thing to do."
SB260 <
http://le.utah.gov/%7E2008/htmdoc/sbillhtm/sb0260.htm>
, sponsored by Sen. Chris Buttars, would give police throughout the
state the same exemption carved out for county officers: disciplinary
charges against them would not be made public unless the officer
appeals the sanction or agrees to open the records.
Public watchdog groups opposing the bill, now
before a Senate committee, say it is a way to cloak information that
should be available to taxpayers who support police departments.
"Just because the county officers have this secret police system
doesn't mean we want to have a statewide police system of secrecy,"
said attorney Michael O'Brien, who represents the Utah Media Coalition,
of which The Salt Lake Tribune is a member. Burbank said his officers
should have equal protections, and are not now given due process before
disciplinary information is released to the public. "We're saying
they're guilty, but they haven't had due process to say 'yes' or 'no'
to that," he said.
Limiting public access to police disciplinary records was listed as
one of Salt Lake City's top legislative priorities, according to a
November e-mail obtained by The Tribune. In a Nov. 18 e-mail to several
city administrators, Salt Lake City Chief Administrative Officer Lyn
Creswell outlined what the city's priorities should be during the
legislative session.
"I would like you to work with the police association to support
changes in GRAMA to protect our police investigations and discipline to
the same extent as the county deputy sheriffs," Creswell wrote.
Creswell could not be reached for immediate comment Wednesday.
Some detractors say Salt Lake City's motivation for pushing more
restrictive access to police discipline records stems from officer
misconduct cases that garnered media attention.
Salt Lake Police Association President Tom Gallegos, one of the
bill's supporters, said there is already public oversight in police
misconduct cases by way of the mayor and a Civilian Review Board.
But Gallegos himself came under fire last year for sending graphic
photographs and sexually explicit messages over a work e-mail account
between February 2005 and October 2006, and for comments made to a
female co-worker.
In May 2007, the Salt Lake Police Department rejected a request for
Gallegos' disciplinary records. It provided the records after the
city's Records Appeals Board ruled such records were public. Gallegos
received written reprimands for his conduct.
It's cases like the Gallegos matter that police want to keep
hidden, said Dan Levin, a former member of the city's Police Civilian
Review Board. He was asked to resign by former Mayor Rocky Anderson
after being accused of leaking discipline records to the public.
"Misconduct by its nature is embarrassing," said Levin.
mrogers@sltrib.com <mailto:
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