Many of our readers often turn to the top of page A2 for the real news around campus. A man smoking cigarettes in someone’s office and then leaving; a student needing help from their roommate after being “intoxicated” and police chases down J Street.

All this information can usually be found in our weekly police log.

These news briefs are a signature and tradition of The State Hornet, and we need more cooperation from campus police to keep our weekly police log updated and help us keep tabs on campus crime.

Our reporters are constantly pacified with phrases such as, “We can’t release anything at the moment,” and “Our public information officer will have to call you back.” These statements are usually half-hearted and rarely executed correctly.

This is not a naive argument from a news outlet to a public agency. We realize it is the duty of our reporters to dig deep and research their stories, but sometimes it makes things difficult when there is not a reliable way for The State Hornet and the public to gain access to public documents. The media log, which is available online for example, was updated regularly by the police dispatcher in past years. Most recently, however, the media log online is one to two weeks behind, and is conveniently updated usually the day after we go to press.

The dispatcher is the only person, according to the campus police, who can supply updated information in regards to the media log over the phone. The public information officer is the other option, but they are not available every business day of the week.

So why wasn’t the police log at the top of page A2 last week? It wasn’t updated by the dispatcher until the day after we went to press. With lack of access and cooperation with the media outlets at this agency, The Hornet is unable to provide the most important information in the police log and our stories.

According to the California Public Records Act, for an incident report, the requesters (The Hornet) of information are entitled to the basic descriptive information as well as “the names and addresses of persons involved in, or witnesses other than confidential informants to.” The law also goes on to say that the requesters are entitled to “statements of the parties involved in the incident.” This information would be very helpful in adding to the depth of our stories but is often withheld.

Also under the California Public Records Act, the “agency under question bears the burden of establishing a legal justification for the refusal to disclose any of the information delineated above.”

The State Hornet will continue to follow crime on the campus, and our reporters will continue to report and research to the best of our ability. We simply want the public information that is required to be given to us by law to be readily available at all hours and days of the week. If it is still continually withheld, then we must ask for a justification.

Public Information Officer Kelly Clark and Chief of Police Kenneth Barnett were unable to be contacted on their office phones Monday afternoon.

Contact the opinion staff at [email protected]