Have to protect those killer cops.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-la-police-shootings,0,7388857.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

Have to protect those killer cops.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-la-police-shootings,0,7388857.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

L.A. Stops Naming Officers in Shootings By Associated Press

February 7, 2006, 12:33 PM EST

LOS ANGELES -- The city Police Commission is no longer releasing the
names of officers involved in shootings.

The Police Commission made the change, overturning a 25-year-old
policy, because officers' identities are protected under state law,
said commission President John W. Mack.

Police union officials had long argued that releasing officers' names
could expose them to danger, and union official had indicated they
were prepared to sue over the disclosures, said Hank Hernandez, the
organization's general counsel.

"This has nothing to do with whether or not the media should have
access or the public should have access to this information," said Bob
Baker, the LAPD union president. "There are people who could use (this
information) for not legitimate purposes. And that's what our concern
is."

The commission decided to make the change at a meeting two months ago,
officials said.

Critics of the change say officers have to be made accountable for
their actions.

"Part of the bargain when you get a badge and a gun is
accountability," said Jeffrey C. Eglash, a former inspector general
for the Police Commission. "Although police officers, like any
employees, have an interest in privacy, their jobs are unlike any
other in that they have the power to arrest and to use deadly force."

A week after the change, the commission unveiled a plan to "provide
greater transparency" by posting detailed summaries of police
shootings on the Internet. Officers' names are not included in those
summaries.

Have to protect those killer cops.