last year to ensure the public has access to police internal affairs records amid the nationwide clamor for increased accountability following the murder of George Floyd.
Supporters of the measure say disclosure ultimately bolsters trust between officers and those they police, but unionsthat disclosure would harm officers’ reputations, hurt their employment opportunities, and invite unfair smears or harassment.“This is supposed to bring transparency,” Renehan said, so that complaints about officers don’t “stay hidden behind theAppeals court upholds D.C.
“You have a process now where the adversaries aren’t exactly adversarial,” said Kevin Goldberg, a veteran freedom-of-information lawyer and First Amendment specialist for the Freedom Forum, referring to the county, officer and union, which are so far the only parties to the case.Acting Montgomery County Attorney John P. Markovs declined to comment on the case, but said in an email that “all litigation is adversarial.
Renehan, who practiced family law in Montgomery County for more than a decade and now volunteers for African animal conservation and female empowerment groups, first requested the disciplinary records of Montgomery County police officer John J. Gloss in January. More than a decade earlier, she had made a complaint to the department about Gloss after a traffic stop she felt he had handled inappropriately.
The county estimated it would take 1,315 hours to review and redact the material. Maryland law allows agencies to charge for costs incurred in releasing records.In April, after some back and forth with the department, Renehan agreed to reduce the scope of her request. She paid $270 to receive only the investigative reports and dispositions of the five cases, amounting to 174 pages of records. Then she waited.
On Thursday, Francke said the lawsuit involves a separate issue than the one he disclosed earlier. “It fell off my radar. I had completely forgotten. I was asked to call you at the last minute, so I apologize for that. I wasn’t trying to hoodwink you or anything,” he said.Advertisement They include sustained allegations of “Conformance to Law,” and “Conduct Unbecoming,” along with other allegations that were not sustained, according to a summary the department released to Renehan, who contacted The Post after reading a recent article. The summary, which was reviewed by The Post and is called a “Concise Employee History,” includes five cases, some of which include multiple alleged policy violations.allegation dated Dec. 3, 2010, the summary shows.