Palmer police wrong to not provide info

One of the more popular and well-read features in this newspaper and others is the Police Beat. In the often lengthy listings is an array of reports from various law enforcement agencies detailing a day-by-day account of agency activity.

Readers have a variety of reasons for enjoying it. Whether it be fodder for gossip, checking up on the latest misdeeds of the neighborhood miscreant, or to track patterns of alleged criminal activity in the area, readers look forward to each subsequent installment of the Police Beat.

Over a period of time, a portrait of sorts is painted in Police Beat of a community and its residents. The information is hardly glamorous and is frequently unpleasant. But it is public information, information that people have a right to know, whatever their reasons for wanting to know it.

Of at least equal importance, a portrait is also painted of area law enforcement agencies. It is as relevant to residents to know, for example, that a meth lab was busted in their neighborhood as it is that the local police department is cracking down on speeders.

In this regard, Police Beat also shows a tangible law enforcement work record. It provides residents quantifiable evidence of how the portion of their tax dollars spent on law enforcement is working for them.

For this reason, it was troubling to hear Palmer Police Chief Russ Boatright's comments to the city council Tuesday night. Following Boatright's general report, Councilor Tony Pippel asked him why there are significantly fewer Palmer police listings in this newspaper's Police Beat than there are from other area law enforcement agencies. Without missing a beat, Boatright said we don't print everything his department sends us.

We cannot say for certain if this is just what one of his underlings told him, or if it was an outright fabrication. Efforts to reach Boatright after the fact for clarification were not successful. But we can say with great certainty that nothing is farther from the truth.

What we get, we print. The problem is - and has been for a very long time - we don't get much. Getting information - public information that residents are entitled to - out of the Palmer Police Department has been like pulling teeth.

Wasilla police and Alaska State Troopers no doubt share in the belief that they have better things to do with their time than post reports. But recognizing their status as public agencies and keepers of public information, they do it anyway, and in a very accessible manner - on their Web sites.

It is not hard to imagine, then, a certain contempt for the public in the Palmer PD's longstanding refusal to release information, and residents should take notice. It is not for individuals working with public information on the public dime to determine what the public should be made aware of.

The people of Palmer have a right to know who the recurring offenders are in their community. They have a right to know where accidents are common. They have a right to know in which neighborhoods property crimes are on the rise. They have a right to know what their local police department is up to.

And the Palmer Police Department has a statutory responsibility to provide that information.