In Maine, police officer discipline records are public documents. But law enforcement agencies often evade transparency.
That’s according to a joint investigation by the Bangor Daily News and Portland Press Herald, with funding from the Pulitzer Center.
Among the findings: It was impossible to tell from available records why most of the 19 state police officers punished for misbehavior since 2015 had been disciplined.
“The public has all the right to see what kind of misconduct is tolerated by the given police organization and why, and whether or not there is an equal distribution of the discipline,” said Maria Haberfeld, of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.