Atlanta paper requests accounts of shooting p.21

By: Editorial Staff

THE ATLANTA JOURNAL and Constitution says that, despite requests to the city, it has been unable to get complete accounts of shooting incidents involving police officers and civilians.
After nearly a month and numerous calls from newspaper attorneys, the city attorney's office charged the paper $295 for incomplete copies of 12 of 44 cases requested.
Deputy City Attorney O.V. Brantley said the paper did not request the files properly.
Some of the shootings may still be under investigation, Brantley said, although 27 are more than a year old.
The newspaper "did not request the files in such a way that we could retrieve them," she said, saying that the city "would take a second look."
The newspaper's attorney, Peter Canfield, said the city is breaking the law by not releasing the information the newspaper requested.
"These files exist and are presumably easily [and] they have an obligation to respond by producing them in three days," he said.