Police log still under wraps

One of the Times' most popular features — the Harrison Police Department Log, has been absent for months. The log was previously organized through an independent contractor and the police, but the contractor is no longer available to complete the task.

Times staff look forward to bringing the feature back soon, and they are doing all they can to return the log to the public eye. "We are patiently waiting for those in power to get the police log back to us. We know how important this feature is to our readers and we are doing what we can to ensure its return," said managing editor Jeff Brasel.

The police call logs, also known as a Dispatch Activity Report, are accessed through software used by the Harrison Police Department. This software and access to it do not belong to the Harrison Daily Times. 

According to Harrison's Information Technology Director, David Wilson, the limited availability of the log has been due to security concerns. Limited access to the system that keeps the reports must be granted by law enforcement authorities, following Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) guidelines. This is due to broader rules, not decided by the city directly. However, the city must work to coordinate access to open materials within the broader external agency's guidelines.

CJIS is a compliance standard that regulates data security and privacy in local, state, and federal law enforcement. CJIS collects and analyzes criminal justice information (CJI) from law enforcement centers around the country and provides a centralized database to store and access CJI. But, in order to use CJIS databases, law enforcement organizations must comply with several security regulations to ensure the proper handling of this sensitive data.

The Times staff, law enforcement and city staff members have been waiting for the remote development team who operates the software to properly secure it so that access to the log does not compromise information security.

Wilson notified the Times on Monday that progress has been seen in the effort to get access to the log returned to the public. "The programmers did write a new program and got it to me, but the narrative isn’t on there (what you are looking for), so I’ve sent an email back to the programmer to add the narrative," said Wilson. "Once they finish this we should be in good shape," he reassured.

Legal consultants told staff this week that "accident reports and police blotter records should be public, but there might be some information redacted (such as things that are clearly investigative)." Ongoing investigations can be jeopardized if sensitive information is released before the investigations are complete.