Maine State Police Announces Restructuring After 3 Weeks of Declining to Share Details
On June 10, the Maine State Police announced plans to reorganize troop deployment and delegation of manpower in line with revised law enforcement priorities. The announcement follows several weeks of secretive posturing and a lack of transparency that has prompted criticism from members of the press, Rep. Charlotte Warren of Hallowell, and Freedom of Information attorney Sig Schutz of Preti Flaherty. During that time, police officials declined interviews, refused to answers questions, and failed to provide adequate written details on the restructuring.
An Excerpt
"[R]ecords describing broad organizational changes, in draft-form or not, are not exempt from state right-to-know laws, said Sig Schutz, a lawyer with Preti Flaherty and an expert in Maine public records law. . . . Structural changes, such as a law enforcement agency’s priorities and how it chooses to spend its public funding, are exactly the kind of information that should be shared with the public."