Anyone who has ever dealt with a local police agency knows firsthand that cops are the worst lawbreakers in the business when it comes to disclosing public records. Today, the Contra Costa Times, Oakland Tribune, and their sister papers do an outstanding job of meticulously detailing how police agencies statewide routinely, and flagrantly, violent the law. Groups of reporters fanned out across California in December to request mundane – and lawfully public documents – only to be treated as if they were asking for national secrets. Some of the worst lawbreakers are right here in the East Bay. The worst of the worst are the Berkeley PD and the Hayward CHP, followed closely by the Oakland, San Leandro, and Alameda police departments.
FOLLOW US