The City of Sandy Springs has been sued by Appen Media Group, which publishes the Crier newspapers, over access to information in police reports, claiming the city denies access to public records.
Appen Media said in a news article that it filed a complaint in the Superior Court of Fulton County on May 12 alleging that it has been repeatedly denied access to initial police officer narratives that are routinely filed during investigations.
“Sandy Springs prides itself on its record of openness and transparency, while at the same time protecting the general public by maintaining the integrity of open investigations,” City Attorney Dan Lee wrote in his response to news of the lawsuit.
Examples of police reports listed in the complaint include cases of aggravated assault, street racing and reckless driving, indecent exposure and weapons law violations. “But in each case, the investigative report narrative contained one sentence with limited details about what allegedly occurred during the incident,” Appen Media said in an article about the lawsuit.
A publication from the Attorney General’s Office, “Georgia Law Enforcement and the Open Records Act,” states that “Initial incident reports are subject to the Act’s disclosure requirements, regardless of whether they are part of an active investigation.”
The Attorney General’s office also said that any report, whether it was entitled “supplemental report,” “narrative report” or a similar document name produced as part of an initial incident report or that can be characterized as such also must be disclosed.
Lee disputed Appen Media’s interpretation of the law in his response.
“The Open Records Act clearly mandates that initial incident reports are to be disclosed, as well as any supplements to the initial reports. However, the supplemental reports mentioned in the complaint are separate from the initial reports and, instead, relate only to notes and other information specific to open investigations. The release of this information is clearly exempt under the Open Records Act and has the potential to compromise public safety and negatively impact on-going investigations,” he said in the response.
“Sandy Springs will continue to release all appropriate information required under the Open Records Act and, if the lawsuit proceeds, the City will seek to recover costs, damages and attorneys’ fees to respond to these allegations which question the City’s integrity,” Lee said.
