The policy was a response to stepped-up ICE activity during the Trump administration. The policy requires the county to cooperate with ICE when mandated by state or federal law but otherwise restricts the county from releasing the personal information of county residents that ICE could use to conduct immigration enforcement. The group ACLU People Power and others began lobbying for the change in arrest reporting after the county Board of Supervisors adopted a “Trust Policy” in January. The department will continue to publish crime statistics and a weekly highlight of a selection of serious crimes. “It was decided by then-Chief Roessler that the public was entitled to know who was arrested in their community, and if we wanted the community to share information we had to do the same as their police department,” Guglielmi said.įairfax County police said the disclosure of arrestees is required by the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), so the information cannot be restricted altogether. region and around the country for decades. The crime blotter has been a staple at many departments in the D.C. News outlets often use the blotter to guide reporting, and neighborhood groups use them to stay abreast of crime trends and offenses in a particular area. Guglielmi said police are exploring ways to bring back the blotter minus names and other details that won’t run afoul of county policy. The data was also used to power online crime maps, so those will go dark, as well. Guglielmi said the lists stopped being published as of Friday, meaning there is no comprehensive list of every person arrested in the county. It included a date of the offense, name of the alleged offender, date of birth, charge, last known address of the offender and arrest location. Virginia residents will still be able to file Freedom of Information Act requests to get details of other arrests but will have to pay a processing fee.įairfax County police began to post the blotter on its website in 2016, after inquiries from the media and public about arrests, said police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. In a statement, ICE said that its “Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) does not use police blotter data to identify immigration enforcement targets in Fairfax County, Virginia,” and that officers use “intelligence-driven leads to identify specific individuals for arrest.”įairfax County police said it will continue to proactively release details of arrests in serious crimes, including homicides, shootings and offenses committed by those in positions of trust. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to target immigrants for deportation and raise privacy concerns.īut open-government advocates and some politicians have criticized the move, saying it decreases police transparency and keeps critical safety information from the public, including details about some violent, sex and property crimes. Immigrant rights and civil liberties groups had been pushing for the change, arguing the weekly compilations that include arrestees’ addresses and other details could allow U.S.
Business & Finance Click to expand menu.įairfax County police have stopped publishing a weekly arrest blotter after county officials found it violated a policy that restricts the dissemination of personal information that could aid immigration enforcement.
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