hunterbishop.com

In 1996 I asked the state Office of Information Practices for an opinion of the Police Department’s seemingly – at least to me at the time -- arbitrary practice of withholding the names of fatal accident and crime victims until the deceased’s next-of-kin are notified.

I covered cops for the Hawaii Tribune-Herald and was feeling frustrated over delays in getting the news.

That soon turned to frustration over my request getting buried by the OIP. I’d call periodically and somebody would call back acknowledging that my request did indeed exist and promising somebody would get right on it. Over the years as the urgency wore off my calls became less frequent. Around 2003, maybe 2004, I stopped calling. I lost my file on it when I abruptly left the newspaper in 2005.

And always after a decade or so passes, I start to think I shouldn't keep waiting by the mailbox. Just a rule of thumb.

Imagine my delight when OIP attorney Linden Joesting called a couple of weeks ago to tell me somewhat sheepishly that she had the case in her hands and was writing an opinion. She was apologetic; I was amused.

I finally got a copy of her opinion via e-mail on Monday and though it wasn’t what I would have liked, it hardly mattered. I got it after all, and not a moment too soon. Who says government doesn’t serve the people?

I asked Joesting if there were any outstanding requests older than mine. “Probably not,” she said dryly. But she’s new in the office and my request just happened to be the oldest in the stack that was put on her desk.

The request itself was for an opinion on the Police Department’s policy, or lack of policy, regarding the release of accident and crime victims’ names. I explained it all here in a previous post so I won’t go into it again.

Nevertheless the OIP opinion said police can withhold the names of deceased people for up to 10 days while attempting to notify next of kin. I think they should release the names when they confirm their identities but I'm not quarrelling with the decision. Police routinely release the names sooner than 10 days anyway.

However I still see no good reason for releasing partial identities and wish the Police Department would reconsider the policy, which results in press releases saying something like, "a 50-year-old Hilo man died today  ... name was withheld pending notification of next of kin." What does that accomplish except to cause needless anxiety for anyone who knows “a 50-year-old Hilo man"?

Anyway, thanks to the sheer doggedness of the OIP, another case is closed.