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September 14, 2009

Our view: Police secrecy breeds rumor, distrust

The identity of persons involved in motor vehicle accidents are routinely made public as soon as the accident report has been completed. Those reports don't assign blame, but are simply a statement of the facts as compiled by the investigating officer.

Which makes it all the more inexplicable why Marblehead police and the Essex County district attorney's office have refused to release the identity of the driver in the Aug. 24 accident that resulted in the death of 15-year-old Alessandra Castner, who was walking across busy Pleasant Street near Mohawk Road.

Authorities defend their decision to withhold the name — three weeks after the fact — because "the investigation is ongoing." But that runs contrary to the public's right to have access to public documents, including police documents.

Furthermore, withholding the name has led to rampant speculation regarding the details of the accident and whether the driver's name is being protected due to personal or political connections. This is all too unfortunate.

There is no evidence that police are refusing to divulge the driver's name other than for the reason cited — their belief that it would hamper their investigation.

But that argument is tough to accept.

"They know who did it," said Robert Bertsche, attorney for The Salem News. "It would be one thing if the suspect were on the loose and didn't know (he) was being sought. That's simply not the case here."

It's mere happenstance that the driver's name did not become public in the immediate aftermath of the accident. There could have been a reporter there interviewing everyone involved; there might have been passengers in the vehicle willing to tell their version of what happened; a police officer or ambulance attendant might have divulged the name at the scene.

Regardless, the position taken by District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett and police Chief Robert Picariello does nothing more than feed the unfortunate rumor mill and make the public question of the reasons for their silence.

"When information is not given out, it breeds suspicion and breeds rumor," said Bertsche. "When they don't reveal the name of the person involved, it invariably raises questions like, 'What is being hidden, and why is it being hidden?'"

Identifying the driver does not make that person more or less guilty. But withholding the name causes the public to wonder just what is going on that makes this case different from most other accident investigations.

That doesn't serve anyone — the victim's family, the driver's family, or the public — well at all.

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Our view: Police secrecy breeds rumor, distrust
by Anonymous , , Mon Sep 14, 2009, 06:00 AM EDT
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