Access to emergency protocols denied

[mas]

Thank god we have newspapers like The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Some of these public officials think they are above the law.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=577947

 

[OpSec]

Please.

Yes, it's public record. No doubt about it, just as most things in government are.

No, it's not the right of the reporter (undercover or not) to walk in and demand the document be produced right now. There is an open records process to be followed and that doesn't include saying "Im from the [Jo]urnal and I demand to see this".

Nobody is trying to be "above the law".

 

[otrebla]

Please.

Yes, it's public record. No doubt about it, just as most things in government are.

No, it's not the right of the reporter (undercover or not) to walk in and demand the document be produced right now. There is an open records process to be followed and that doesn't include saying "Im from the [Jo]urnal and I demand to see this".

Nobody is trying to be "above the law".

Spoken like a true government employee. So you think the public should have to jump through hoops before they receive documents that are suppose to be public in the first place?

 

[N_Jay]

Spoken like a true government employee. So you think the public should have to jump through hoops before they receive documents that are suppose to be public in the first place?

Spoken like a true . . .. .

Should a law officer search your house just because he "knows he would get a warrant" if he asks? NO!

Well there are procedures on both sides!

 

[OpSec]

Spoken like a true government employee. So you think the public should have to jump through hoops before they receive documents that are suppose to be public in the first place?

My employment by a governmental agency has nothing to do with it. Whether we want to release the records or not, we are obligated to under law...this is a black and white issue, with no hoops to jump through. You come in, make the appropriate request, pay the appropriate money for the copies of said paperwork if required and then go about your business.

That said, in the post 9/11 world there are some people/agencies that have taken operational security way too far, to the point of denying seemingly straight-forward open records requests. The sooner that some people (including those listed in the article we are referring to) get the concept of open records through their heads, the better off we all are. Likewise, the laws surrounding what is considered an "open" record changes all the time.

 

[ofd8001]

Isn't some of this like playing poker and all players must show their hands?

I'm a fire chief. We have most all of our SOPs posted on our website for all to see. But there are some relating to terrorism events that we don't. Here's why.

We have a procedure on response to bombing incidents. It specifies how far away our apparatus must park. Planting secondary devices is something the bad guys like to do just to take out the responders. So if they know how far away our apparatus is, then they'll know where to set the responder-killers.

Until we can figure out a way to get only the good people information, and keep it from the bad guys, then we'll just have to restrict it. Hopefully most folks will understand why certain information must be "classified".