Many Connecticut police departments withhold public info, investigation finds Investigation shows not all comply with FOI law

Five municipal police departments and one state police troop flouted Freedom of Information law in a statewide compliance check this month by refusing to release even basic arrest information upon request.

New Haven police didn’t provide any required information, with spokesman David Hartman telling a reporter who asked to see the arrest log, that “You’ll never get blotter from us, we are just too damn busy.”

“It is not public information; these are arrests, not convictions,” Hartman added.

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Police departments across the state vary widely in terms of what information they release to the public, the compliance check done by staff at the New Haven Register, The Middletown Press and The Register Citizen shows.

The three newspapers tested all 92 municipal police departments across Connecticut and 11 state police troops on their compliance with the state’s Freedom of Information Act.

Middletown received a grade of “A-.” Department spokeswoman Lt. Heather Desmond said Thursday she is “pleased” with the grade. She did offer clarifications, including to one factor that led to some points off, that the reporter who went to her department was asked for identification.

“...We can ask who someone is, if (that person) chooses not to provide it, we still let them have access to the information,” Desmond said. “But there is nothing wrong with asking. Also by e-mailing the arraignments during normal business hours to all the local press agencies, I think that more than shows we comply with the FOIA laws. We now provide the arraignments through a link on our Facebook page and Twitter. Anyone who goes to our page can click on the link anonymously and not even have to show their face in the lobby of the police department.”

She said hard copies of the arraignments are available fore review during normal business hours, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The Middletown Police Department. The Middletown Police Department. Photo: Journal Register Co. Photo: Journal Register Co. Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Many Connecticut police departments withhold public info, investigation finds 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

At the South Windsor and West Hartford departments, reporters were promptly given access to an arrest log and an in-depth arrest report, without question about our identity.

In contrast, Branford, Middlebury, New Haven, state police Troop G in Bridgeport, West Haven and Westport garnered an “F” for a Sunshine Grade for failing to provide even basic information on arrests as required by state FOI law.

“There are situations where we can use our discretion if you don’t get to know certain things,” Hartman told a reporter during the compliance check in New Haven.

“Whether you are entitled to it, I don’t know. In my entire time here, no reporter or news agency has ever requested an arrest log,” Hartman said. “It is fishing for stuff. ... You are not going to generally fish through our arrest logs, because there are too many situations where that information is not for the public to know. We keep secrets here.”

Hartman specifically mentioned having to redact any arrests of juveniles, for example, as that isn’t public information. (Typically, police departments do not name juveniles in arrest logs.) Hartman also expressed concern about revealing any information on sexual assault or domestic violence victims, though only individuals who have been arrested would typically appear in an arrest log.

Hartman, meanwhile, also said reporters shouldn’t hesitate to call if they need information on a specific case, and he regularly issues press releases.

Asked later for a response to the department’s performance on the compliance check, neither Hartman nor New Haven Police Chief Dean Esserman commented.

Instead, Laurence Grotheer, the city’s director of communications, issued the following statement: “The city’s policy and practice with regard to provisions of the Freedom of Information Act is full compliance, and that applies to all city departments without exception,” said Grotheer. “As a direct result, New Haven and its Department of Police Service enjoy a healthy, positive relationship with the state Freedom of Information Commission and remain in good standing with those who have compliance oversight.”

Tom Hennick, spokesman for the commission, said the agency hasn’t conducted a survey like this one for many years, so it doesn’t have any current assessment of communities’ performance.

“New Haven is a big city and they do get a lot of information requests,” Hennick said, of the city in general. “I can say that they do call us frequently and try to get it right. They work hard to try to comply (with FOI) law.”

Under state Freedom of Information law, the record of arrest is public information. This means the name and address of the person arrested, the date, time and place of the arrest and the offense, and at least one of the following designated by the law enforcement agency: the arrest report, the incident report, news release or other similar report of an arrest.

The law also calls police records public records, with some exemptions: the identity of informants, signed statements of witnesses, information which would be prejudicial to a law enforcement action, investigatory techniques not known to the general public, juvenile arrest records, the identity of a sexual assault victim and uncorroborated allegations.

A reporter who visited Middlebury wasn’t able to get an arrest log at all.

Middlebury Chief Richard Wildman said an arrest and incident log is available between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. at his department. Because of a recent transition to a regional dispatch center, however, the building is not open after hours and information cannot be provided to the public after 4 p.m.

The reporter checking that department was there in the early afternoon and spoke with records staff, before 4 p.m.

When people come in during business hours to seek information, they can get the arrest logs from the records clerk or the chief’s secretary, and then they can speak to a ranking officer for more information, Wildman said. The chief will email out information to reporters as requested, but information for the public is accessible only at the department at this time, he said.

The law doesn’t require around the clock access, but does require prompt access, according to Hennick.

Another department that didn’t make even an arrest log available during a compliance check was Branford.

Branford Capt. Geoffrey Morgan said news media outlets can get the arrest log sent to them via email, and as public information officer, he will provide descriptions of what happened.

“I am transparent, and it sounds like no one contacted the right person to get the right information,” Morgan said.

The reporter who checked Branford did provide his email address to the department to get on the list to receive the arrest log, but has not received any.

“I respond to requests for Freedom of Information all the time,” Morgan said. “People are directed to send me a letter and I will provide them with what I can.”

Branford will not release detailed arrest reports, according to Morgan.

“The (New Haven) state’s attorney’s office doesn’t allow it,” Morgan said, adding that individuals can seek to obtain information through the court instead.

New Haven State’s Attorney Michael Dearington said his office recommends there be compliance with Freedom of Information statutes and mandates.

“Police records are public records with some exemptions,” Dearington said, referring to exemptions like the identity of informants. “The bottom line is our police departments have to follow the mandates. I have recommended to police departments (in the New Haven region) to read and follow the statutes and if they have any questions, they can call us.”

A reporter who checked Westport also couldn’t even get basic arrest information.

Westport Police Chief Dale Call said his reaction is “one of great disappointment.”

“We train our records staff, both civilian and sworn, in (the Freedom of Information Act), so there is absolutely no excuse if your reporter spoke to any of them. None. It is frustrating to hear about this, quite frankly,” Call said via email.

State police troops typically got a B- range by providing arrest logs, but refusing to give detailed reports out. Troop G, however, didn’t even give an arrest log during a compliance check, so it was the only state police troop to get an “F.”

“That’s impossible,” state police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said, when told our reporter got no information at Troop G. “Arrests logs and press releases are available to anyone in the lobby.”

Troop G is one of the busier troops but generally deals more with motor vehicle stops than criminal arrests, Vance said. However, he said the state police in general adhere to strict guidelines throughout the state in terms of what the agency provides to the public.

“We want people to see the work that we are doing,” Vance said.

The only reason he could think that a log would not be available is if a supervisor was updating the log book at the same time the reporter stopped by, he said. Also, it’s possible that an arrest the person was asking for information on had not yet been finalized and the responding trooper had not yet submitted his information.

In a follow-up email, Vance said: “We provide press releases on ALL arrests to the public. The arrest logs contain other information that is not public record …. so to ask for the press releases would be the proper way to gain access to ALL arrest and accident details.”

West Haven Sgt. Robert Urrata said he was surprised the arrest log wasn’t provided during the compliance check there.

“It is in a computer and can be printed out for people,” Urrata said. “Generally, if a report didn’t involve an arrest, it is available right away, but if it did involve an arrest, we wait until the case is adjudicated (in court before releasing it.)”

Colleen Murphy, executive director and general counsel of the state Freedom of Information Commission, said of the compliance check results, “It seems to be all over the map.”

“There are some very positive instances — and the larger cities seemed to have a better handle on providing access, with the exception of New Haven,” Murphy said. “It seems to depend on resources, commitment to Freedom of Information and knowledge of the law.”

When asked why it is important for this information to be available, Murphy said, “We pride ourselves that there are no secret arrests in this country, which is why information like this needs to be open.”

“Public officials should know what information should be available,” Murphy added.

The state Supreme Court is currently considering a case that deals with access to police records. The case began with a FOI complaint by the New Haven Register.

“Hopefully, when the Supreme Court issues a decision, it will clarify this, and if it rules the way the commission interprets the law, we’ll see more opening of access,” Murphy said.

Some departments post information such as arrests directly on their website or Facebook page, while others require you to show identification in order to get any information about arrests.

During our compliance checks, only one department in the state got a perfect “A” score — South Windsor. A reporter was able to get the arrest log and an in-depth report without being questioned about his identity. The department puts arrest information online, and its police chief is active on social media.

When told his department scored the only “A” rating, South Windsor Police Chief Matthew Reed said he is glad to hear it. Some departments feel pressured by court prosecutors not to release information, he said.

“It if was up to the courts, we wouldn’t say anything, but we try not to let them drive our policy,” Reed said. “No one has ever said they lost their case because you made a comment or issued a press release.”

Most of everything you do should be accessible to the public, Reed said.

“My goal is to put information out and be easily accessible,” Reed said. “I am glad we have created an environment here where if someone comes in and asks, (staff in) records gathers the information and gives it out.”

Another 26 departments got an A- rating, for both providing an arrest log and an in-depth report, though these sometimes asked for our identity, or don’t provide information online.

Overall, about 25 percent of police departments got a score in the “A” range.

Hartford is an example of a large city that earned an A- rating. It has arrest information available online, and provided it when we showed up in person. We were able to get an in-depth report there on a robbery and home invasion arrest. The only downside in Hartford — they asked for identification.

Hartford Deputy Chief Brian Foley said while they are pleased with an A-, they are actually “upset we didn’t get an A.” Foley has a very active Twitter account, in which he regularly posts police information too.

“We definitely want to work on it, and if there is something we can do to fix it, we will,” Foley said. “We want to be completely transparent.”

The current Hartford police chief, James Rovella, wanted to improve transparency and community relations, and allowed the department to open up, according to Foley.

“We are very responsive and try to give out whatever we can to be transparent,” Foley said. “We needed to develop a better relationship with the community and the media, and transparency is a great way to do that.”

Another 61 departments or troops, or about 59 percent of them, got a rating in the “B” range. These departments typically gave an arrest log, but weren’t forthcoming with in-depth reports.

Norwalk Police Chief Tom Kulhawik, whose department received a “B” grade, responded on Facebook Thursday morning.

“I was pleased that Norwalk received a grade of ‘B’, I felt we deserved better, as we have always worked to provide open access to the media,” he said. “The survey conducted was a single sampling, and the reporter, apparently not being familiar with our agency did not note that we provide a daily press briefing each morning where the press can review incidents and arrests and request specific information on the cases of interest to them.”

Kulhawik also noted that his department provides daily logs for arrests, citations and incidents to the media electronically every morning. The printed archive of the logs is available in the lobby of police headquarters, he said.

Kulhawik said after seeing the report, he has now had his department add a link to the daily logs on its website.

Seven departments scored in the “C” range, such as Bristol, where they claimed FOI law prohibits them from releasing police reports on arrests until a case is adjudicated in court.

We gave out two “D” grades and six “F” grades.

Therefore, 15 percent of departments or troops scored a C+ or under.

Reporter Mercy Quaye in New Haven, and numerous other Connecticut staffers contributed to this story. Have questions, feedback or ideas about our news coverage? Connect directly with the editors of the New Haven Register at AskTheRegister.com.