Miss. law opening police reports takes effect, but some agencies slow-walk journalists' requests

A new law giving Mississippians access to police incident reports took effect today, following a strong campaign by the state's newspapers, but some law enforcement agencies are not providing the reports on a timely basis, Dan Davis, managing editor of the Hattiesburg American, writes in a note to the state's newspapers, distributed by the Mississippi Press Association.

"Some law enforcement agencies . . . said we must submit a written request daily and then they have up to 14 days to respond," the limit under the law, Davis reports. "We met with most of our local agencies last week to discuss the new law. The general feedback at that meeting was that they want to be cooperative with us. But that's not happening." Davis asks for reports from other newspapers for a story the American is planning for later this week.

The law was passed after a year of lobbying by the MPA and other groups, and a package of stories, published in many if not most of the state's newspapers, showing how the Magnolia State had some of the country's most limited access to government records. (Read more)

"Every community had its own story to tell. . . . All of us together have done something we couldn't do alone," a driving force behind the series, Sun Herald Executive Editor Stan Tiner said during a panel discussion on the law during last week's MPA convention in his town of Biloxi. Tiner said "for a long time" local officials took advantage of Mississippi media's nature "as Southerners" to be understanding of government officials. "We had been losing ground over the last few years," he said, "and that was no longer acceptable." Tiner said the series "spoke directly to the people," who then told elected officials they didn't like the secrecy. Neshoba Democrat Publisher Jim Prince, chairman of MPA's lobbying committee, said it was evident in a crucial meeting with police chiefs and sheriffs that the stories had an impact.

Prince, Tiner and others said much remains to be done. "Mississippi still has some of thw weakest open-government laws," said David Hampton of The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, who moderated the panel. Tiner said, "We have taken sort of some baby steps," adding that newspapers need to write editorials explaining "how you as a citizen will gain from this information," and keep working with local officials for cooperation.