Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 26, 1991 TAG: 9103260463
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FAIRFAX LENGTH: Medium
Fairfax police, upon request, had provided the number of excessive-force complaints received by the department as recently as April 1990.
"I see no reason why they [excessive force statistics] shouldn't be released," said Del. Alan Mayer, D-Fairfax. "It's one way to find out whether they've got a problem. . . . I don't know if they have anything to hide or not."
Concerns about police brutality have heightened since an incident in Los Angeles this month in which officers were videotaped beating a suspect.
Since February, Fairfax police have been unwilling to release their figures, despite a request made by The Fairfax Journal under the state's Freedom of Information Act.
Assistant County Attorney Robert Ross denied the paper's request, citing police confidentiality.
The new policy was not an attempt to hide complaints, said police spokesman Boyd Thompson.
He said the department does not release any information pertaining to personnel matters.
He said state law says police departments are not required to release such information. The police had released previous statistics on a one-time basis, he said.
Complaints of excessive force usually are handled by internal affairs divisions within police departments.
Most police departments are not required to make public the number of brutality complaints they receive, said Barbara Price, the dean of graduate studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.
But she said she thinks police evaluating agencies should make the reporting of excessive-force cases part of their evaluation of departments.
by CNB