TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - While calls for police transparency and accountability continue nationally, Kansas lawmakers will consider whether to decrease access to police records.
Legislators could vote to exempt from the open records law a list of licensed law enforcement officers, information about officer terminations and complaints filed about officers maintained by a state commission.
That information held by the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training would be considered closed personnel and investigatory records. Lawmakers said law enforcement agencies that report terminations to the commission could release the records if they wanted to, but critics contend they won’t.
“Sure, they could be made available but 999 times out of 1,000 they’re not going to be,” said Richard Gannon, Kansas Press Association director of governmental affairs.
Supporters said it would make police personnel files like those of other public employees, who Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Blaine Finch said have an interest in privacy.
“The goal here is not to shield bad cops,” Finch told the House Thursday. He added that the commission exists to get rid of “bad cops” and that releasing complaint records that may not be factual could damage an officer’s reputation, not constitute transparency.
Gannon said law enforcement’s word gets treated as gospel and the bill would eliminate public oversight, leaving the “police watching the police.”
“If you’ve got a rogue cop out there that’s moving around from job to job, the public has a right to know,” Gannon said.
The House kicked the bill back to the committee because of concern over making complaints confidential. Democratic Rep. John Carmichael added an amendment that classifies the records as investigatory. They would not be required to be released under an open records request but may be released if a court decides it’s in the public interest, he said.
The committee passed the amended version, which could come back up for debate on the House floor.
Carmichael said he’s concerned about the decrease in transparency and that opening up the commission’s work to the public translates into confidence in the police. He said he understands the desire to protect officers’ privacy.
“I think some people will be justifiably disappointed at the compromises that we’ve reached here,” Carmichael said.
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