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If they are really going to make these “public” why don’t they just post them on the Portland Police website?
I’m with Number Six, and this speaks to a larger problem with government continuing to rely on the traditional newsmedia to educate citizens. We can really, in this century, begin to bypass the middleman (no offense Merc newsteam…you’re doing it better than most). PPB Facebook page?
@Number 6 and Branch – It’s a good idea, I wish they’d do it that way, too. But you asked “Why don’t they?” so I’ll just point out that it would cost them money to build that kind of thing. Not much, and it’s probably worth it, but that might be one of their reasons.
These are excellent points about public records law that I address somewhat in an article in this week’s paper:
http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/th…
Also, I just checked out the police website and they have posted these reports… though you wouldn’t be able to find them if you weren’t specifically looking for them. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page for a link to the pdf:
http://www.portlandonline.com/police/