Law enforcement will release more data to the public if the State Senate Judiciary Committee gets its way. The committee approved Senate Bill 85 which directs officials to share information about service calls. Under the legislation, law enforcement is required to share general information about the incident, if logs are maintained. The bill releases no identifiable information about the subjects involved, and it also won’t release data about mental health issues or chemical dependency. Both representatives of the media and law enforcement spoke in favor of the measure. Steve Willard is the president of the South Dakota Broadcasters Association.
“The transparency is good. Transparency on most subjects as long as you take into account the individuals that are involved and you don’t inflict any further pain or damage on them that transparency is good for all of us. It makes sure the government and public officials are accountable where there needs to be accountability and fact. It also means that no public official, no government, should really unilaterally control the flow of information, that there ought be a watchdog of sorts, that there ought be another party that has the opportunity to review that information,” Willard says.
Willard says the broadcasters and newspapers take their job as a public watchdog very seriously. The measure passed unopposed and now heads to the full Senate for consideration.