Citizens should have access to crime records
Last week in a House subcommittee a police chief expressed alarm that anyone could come in to his department and get access to crime records after a case is closed. He was testifying in support of a bill that would make victims of sexual assault crimes anonymous after the case is over. The proposal would exempt their names and any other potentially identifying information from the Tennessee’s Open Records Act. I applaud that police chief for his stated adherence to Tennessee’s laws, which give any Tennessee citizen access to local law enforcement’s investigations into a crime after the case is over or prosecution is ended. But unlike the chief, I’m [...]