Police Sued Over Public Records
by Gordon Russell - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

The Times-Picayune filed a lawsuit Friday against the New Orleans Police Department, alleging that the department has failed to provide a long list of public records requested by the newspaper and routinely delays the release of initial incident reports intended to promptly inform the public about crime in the city.

The suit, filed in Civil District Court, outlines six written requests for records made between Dec. 18 and March 4 by two reporters and an editor at the paper in accordance with the Louisiana Public Records Act. The case has been allotted to Civil District Judge Kern Reese, and a hearing is set for May 23.

Among the items sought by the newspaper:

-- Records showing the number of crimes committed in each police district.

-- Reports produced weekly by each district showing where various major crimes were committed.

-- A homicide log.

-- Statistics on arrests.

To date, none of the requests has been fulfilled, the suit contends, though the law requires that records be made available for inspection within three business days.