A NOT SO Quirky News Bit

[aamusedinatx]

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.

Full article found here.