It took Graham Dyer's parents two determined years to find out what happened the night their son died while in the custody of Mesquite police. Two agonizing years to uncover serious discrepancies between what police told them and what the investigative record actually showed.

Robert and Kathy Dyer knew only that in August of 2013, Graham, 18, was arrested while high on LSD. He had assaulted a police officer, they were told, and injured himself by repeatedly banging his head while in custody. It was only after he was placed in restraints at the police station that he began to have trouble breathing — so they were told. Graham died in the hospital the following day. An autopsy determined he died of self-inflicted head injuries.

The couple asked to see records, including photos and videotape, of their son's arrest. As reported last week in the opening article of a series by the Austin American-Statesman, the Mesquite Police Department refused, citing the dead man's privacy.

The department resisted the Dyers' efforts by invoking a state law intended to shield citizens who are arrested but ultimately not convicted of any crime. It's meant to protect the privacy of people who may have been caught up in an investigation but were legally cleared.

In Dyer's case, though, the law was used to withhold crucial facts from his family, their attorney told the Austin paper. When the couple eventually pried the records loose using a back-door approach through federal investigators, they learned that their son had been repeatedly tasered, with shocks delivered directly to his genitals; that he had been shut in a patrol car, hands and feet bound, with no other restraints; and that video of Graham as he was pulled limp from the car appeared inconsistent with reports that he required restraints while at the police station.

This case represents, at best, a disturbing interpretation of a law meant to protect individual privacy. And it mirrors similar cases in which statutes regulating release of medical or government records have been applied not to protect privacy, but to stifle whistleblowers, protect corporate interests, or cover up potential misconduct.

A law now pending in the Legislature would modify that law to exclude this kind of misapplication. The Government Transparency and Operation Committee on Monday heard House Bill 3234, which would compel release of police records if the arrested person agrees — or if, like Graham Dyer, the arrestee is deceased.

Robert and Kathy Dyer testified before the committee to urge support for the measure, introduced by Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso.

As a result of the specifics provided by the hard-won records, the Dyers are now pursuing a federal complaint against the Mesquite Police Department. Without those specifics, they would have been powerless to seek redress.

Privacy laws must not be co-opted to hide potential misconduct by the agencies sworn to protect us. The Dyers deserved the truth. We all do.

Voice your opinion

To register your support for a legislative proposal to help guarantee transparency by Texas law enforcement agencies by modifying privacy law:

■ Contact Gov. Greg Abbott: gov.texas.gov/contact.

■ Contact Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick: 512-463-5342 or LTGConstituent.Affairs@ltgov.texas.gov.

■ Contact House Speaker Joe Straus: 512-463-1000 or joe.straus@speaker.state.tx.us.

■ Contact your legislator. To find out who represents you and how to contact them, go to www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/Home.aspx and type in your address.

■ Email forms are available on each lawmaker's website. Find them at www.house.state.tx.us/members and www.senate.state.tx.us/directory.php.

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