City Council approves removal of arrest records from city website after 14-day period

Ald.+Cicely+Fleming+looks+on+during+a+Human+Services+Committee+meeting.+Fleming+advocated+for+removing+the+city%E2%80%99s+arrest+records+from+the+city+website+on+a+rolling+14-day+period+at+Monday%E2%80%99s+City+Council+meeting.+

(Daily file photo by Katie Pach)

Ald. Cicely Fleming looks on during a Human Services Committee meeting. Fleming advocated for removing the city’s arrest records from the city website on a rolling 14-day period at Monday’s City Council meeting.

Elizabeth Byrne, Summer Editor

City Council unanimously passed a resolution to remove arrest records from the city’s website after a 14-day rolling period at Monday’s meeting.

The resolution was moved by Ald. Eleanor Revelle (7th) and seconded by Ald. Cicely Fleming (9th). According to city documents, arrest records will be available on the city website for a rolling 14-day period and each day a new report is added, the oldest will be deleted.

According to city documents, arrest records were temporarily removed from the city website in May after Fleming raised questions about publishing them online. The new resolution also mandates the reports will not be indexed by search engines after the 14-day period, a problem that Fleming brought up when she introduced the idea in March. All arrest records older than 14 days have to be requested through the Freedom of Information Act.

Fleming moved to amend the resolution to have administrative adjudication records follow the same new guidelines for arrest records. According to the city website, administrative adjudication records include tickets, notice of violations or complaints from the city.

“They’re not posted as regularly,” Fleming said. “They’re kind of one in the same in that they list a person, the crime and their address, but no follow up of what happened with the charge.”

Fleming added that if residents want to stay informed about the activity in their area, they can subscribe to the daily crime bulletins or access the information online.

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