PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona lawmakers thought they were doing police a favor when they passed a measure that would keep secret for two months the name of any officer involved in an on-duty shooting.
But police chiefs say the proposal would serve only to hamper their ability to manage complex police-community relations, and they are asking the governor to veto the measure. Civil-rights groups and community activists also want to see the bill rejected, saying adding another layer of secrecy will only deepen the divide between law enforcement and some segments of the public, especially in minority communities.
"There's already laws that protect officers, so there is no need for any additional laws," Warren Stewart Jr., pastor at the Church of the Remnant in heavily minority south Phoenix, said Friday.
Police unions support the measure that is on Gov. Doug Ducey's desk, calling it a common-sense idea based strictly on safety.
The bill does not preclude "the community's right and desire to know what their police department is doing," said Joe Clure, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association.
The bill was prompted by police use-of-force incidents in Ferguson and New York City that drew intense criticism to the officers involved. Republicans who sponsored Senate Bill 1445 said they simply wanted a time-out to allow for investigations to proceed.
"The simple fact remains that we live in a world where misinformation can put everybody in jeopardy, especially police officers," state Sen. John Kavanagh said this week. "And until we get those facts straight, we need to shield those cops and their families from being assassinated by lunatics or political zealots."
State legislatures across the nation have been looking at police-transparency laws since the Aug. 8 shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by Ferguson officer Darren Wilson, whose name was released a week after the incident. Several states are considering requiring police to wear body cameras or mandating shooting investigations be done by outside agencies.
But Arizona is apparently the only state looking at tightening up rules for releasing the names of officers, according to Ezekiel Edwards, director of the Criminal Law Reform Project at the American Civil Liberties Union.