Transparency in dark

Once again, our governments are declaring that transparency is a top priority while they work at a feverish pace to hide themselves from the public. The latest is the effort to exempt huge parts of state and university records from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. Despite all the testimony at legislative hearings, none of those seeking to hide their records can cite any cases that had actually threatened their work.

A few years ago, the Little Rock Police Department surprised both the public and the city’s Board of Directors when it took its radio traffic to the dark side by encrypting it. It was expected that a few critical channels would be encrypted (for example SWAT, narcotics), but it hid them all. The excuse was “officer safety”—the need to keep criminals from listening and thus endangering officers responding to calls. Yet, just like the state/university folks, not a single case could be referenced where a crook had put an LRPD officer in danger by listening to the radio.

A SWAT operation in progress or the specific security response plans for an agency or education institution are good candidates for secrecy. But ordinary activities or a list of employees or even information that might someday be involved in a lawsuit belong to the public.

The citizens are the employer and the owner of our government. We have a right to know. Transparency should rule, not darkness. MARK BARNHARD

Little Rock