Ohio private police exempt from records law

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Washington Examiner

Ohio private police exempt from records law
JANUARY 20, 2014 AT 10:02 PM

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Under current state law, more than 800 privately employed Ohio police officers who carry guns, use deadly force, and search, detain, and arrest people are allowed to keep their records secret, even from crime victims.

The private police officers, who work for 39 employers made up of mostly private universities and hospitals, are — like their employers — exempt from the public-records laws that public-sector police agencies must follow.

Critics, including Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, say it's time to demand the same accountability and transparency from private police officers.

"The public policy is clear, that the state is giving them the same power as (public) police departments. For all other purposes, we should be treating them the same insofar as openness and giving the public information," DeWine said.


Read more: http://washingtonexaminer.com/article/2542532

[sakabatou]

1. WTF?!

[spin]

2. Interesting. (n/t)

[riqster]

3. Same thing we do with Charter Schools.

Privatization is NOT always a good thing.

[Orsino]

4. One step closer to Robocop. n/t

[madville]

5. The railroads still have private police forces

They have been around a couple of centuries, good paying union jobs as well.

[One_Life_To_Give]

6. Universities will fight that

Private Universities don't have to disclose taking students into protective custody for being intoxicated. Nor do they have to report the real rates of Campus Crime. Public disclosure is a mix of good and bad. Students do stupid stuff and Private University Police can keep the records hidden. While they can also suppress the reported rate of assault upon students.

[DeSwiss]

7. ''Put down your weapon! You have twenty seconds to comply!!!''

In the meantime while you piss your pants, I'm filling out the reports and emailing them to police headquarters concerning the upcoming ''accident'' as we speak. Does ''it was an unavoidable shooting that killed all in the room'' sound plausible?



- We're gettin' there......

K&R