Redacting an Officer's Image from Public Record

[@jasonhaire8897]

Always have your live recordings of police activity on a cloud in case your phone is taken from them.

[@trevorburns4153]

454 C - does this mean i give it to my department (in county A) and it is their job to file it in the superior court of the county i reside (county B)? Or can I just file it in County B myself?

[@WadeSanders-c4s]

Does this apply to retired Officers as well?

[@ryangullstrand7531]

Is this just a way to try and stop or significantly delay the right of the information that people have a right to see? Would the freedom of information act trump AZ law? And wouldn't the officer have to give a very specific reason and not just some generalized reason? Because I see it like this, no one made people become officers they choose to. They trained, their armed, and they have protection. So they knew what they were getting into when they took the job. Would the average citizen get this same right as those who work for the government, and if that answer is no, then they shouldn't get special treatment for it.

[@AZPoliceLawyer]

Depending on the circumstances, a citizen may be able to petition the court to have their identity redacted if they can show that the release of the information is likely to cause harm. That said, most police officers have first-hand knowledge of the potential dangers of having identities released after high-profile incidents. I personally know of officers who have received threats to themselves and their families, and that required additional security measures when they ended up in the news. I believe in transparency, and I am glad that the public records laws in Arizona allow interested individuals to request videos of officer interactions. But there isn't a huge value in showing the officers' faces in my opinion. Even if faces are blurred, officer actions can be scrutinized and discussed - without increasing the chances of threats or harassment for the involved officers and their families.

[@REPSDirect]

LEO's would have nothing to fear if they practice constitutional behavior.

[@user-sb3du4oq8e]

Steve, love the content. Let’s say a department released an officers name and information by way of their own public records request and put that info on a website. Knowing that the website would be used by the media and also knowing that a certain media outlet already had a photo of an officer when the officer was not redacted but became redacted later in his career. Would that officer have any legal proceedings against their department?

[@jpkrimmel1999]

End qualified immunity..

[@ScalzoPhoto]

Low quality officer go viral because the stands for that form if employment are shockingly low. You can barely get through high school, never read books and barely understand the law, and still become a cop in much of this country…… Make the standards HIGHER. Request a bachelor’s degree TO START THE JOB.

[@AZPoliceLawyer]

High-quality applicants are really difficult to find for the vast majority of police departments - virtually every department in Arizona is short-staffed and struggles to meet recruiting goals. Including a degree requirement would make that problem worse. Additionally, at least in theory, officers need to demonstrate competency in the academy, and have to show that they can successfully write reports and recap incidents effectively. Finally, I personally wouldn't support a bachelor's degree requirement for police officers. While education can be helpful, some of the best law enforcement officers I know chose not to go to college. Competency can be built through effective on the job training in many instances, and I think that police officer is one of those jobs that doesn't necessarily require a college degree for all positions.

[@returnfreedom]

Ah man you didn't get selected huh?

[@bleulesyeux5416]

The crappiest cops I've ever worked with had a "Bachelors Degree". It's mostly common sense, but I do agree, a lot of cops don't have the skills to do it. I have a Bachelors and it never made me better at the job when I was a cop.

[@tjmayer9103]

A bachelor's degree doesn't make you "street smart".

[@cjanquart]

@@AZPoliceLawyer Fair points but I didn't get into LE mainly because I got fired from one job and left another in lieu of termination. This was in CA so might be different but applying with a dozen different agencies and they always look at where else you applied with and what the status was, so if you don't get accepted, you're essentially black balled...so they get what the get (and deserve). If a department doesn't like you, they'll find reasons and it's even worse with small agencies (looking at Signal Hill and the Ron Settles incident).

[@joetrujillo9371]

Cowards