Keep police info available

When is the last time you read that published news reports in South Carolina made it impossible to prosecute a case successfully? Or that a witness to, or victim of, a crime was harmed because of news reports?

Likely you don't know of any such situations, except in television crime shows.

Yet State Rep. Chris Murphy, R-Summerville, wants to change state law to address the very things that aren't happening.

Mr. Murphy has introduced a bill that would give police pretty much free rein to withhold information from the public, under the guise of protecting victims, witnesses and "the integrity of the criminal trial process."

The Freedom of Information Act, as it now exists, already allows police to withhold information for legitimate reasons. Departments routinely black out names of rape victims, for example.

Deciding when police can keep information from the public is always going to be the subject of dispute. The mission of police is to stop crime. The mission of the press is to represent citizens, who benefit from having the information made public.

If the police are given permission to keep almost any information secret, the public will be the loser.

A story in Saturday's Post and Courier related several instances statewide when police withheld information that the law says must be released. For example, in Charleston, police reported to the public that an officer was sent to a supermarket to check on a robbery. In reality, three men held employees at gunpoint and stole money from a safe. In Columbia, police withheld information about a potential sexual assault in a bar district popular with college students.

Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen, in a visit to this newspaper last week, acknowledged past shortcomings in this area and said his department is committed to full compliance with the FOIA.

Do police sometimes find it inconvenient to provide information to the public? Sure. It requires time, paperwork and judgment to predict when information might undermine a case.

But law officers work for the public, and people have a right to know how well the police are doing their jobs, how safe their neighborhoods are and what efforts are being made to catch the bad guys.

Another bill, sponsored by Rep. Bill Taylor, R-Aiken, could help citizens obtain public information. It would allow agencies to charge only for the actual cost of searching for a record.

Day after day, the media and police slog through these Freedom of Information issues and work things out. As a result, people are kept informed.

Mr. Murphy's bill, H.4740, has 33 co-sponsors, including House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston. It aims to fix a problem that doesn't exist.

And it would diminish the public's ability to obtain public information.