Advance Notice of Public Meetings

Your editorial entitled “Keeping People in the Dark” (Aug. 5) reminds us all that our system of checks and balances must be vigilantly protected if it is to be maintained. The forces that work to undermine that guarantee are often cloaked in elusive garb. A bill initiated by a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s association and proposed by state Sen. Lucy Killea (D-San Diego) would exclude the public from information that would otherwise be available regarding police or sheriff misconduct at an appeal stage.

At a time of widespread public distrust and apathy with our political process, passage of this bill would simply fuel the fire. The public seeks more accountability from government agencies, not less.

Mindful of the fact that an officer, too, has a right to privacy, state law and local regulations restrict access at the administrative level. The opportunity to weed out groundless charges and to prevent unnecessary damage to the officer’s career is thereby given.

Applying that right, however, to the appeal stage would be an insidious extension. The very fact that the appeal exists indicates that, besides the victim, those persons furnished with the power to decide concluded that discipline was warranted. If the disciplinary action was unwarranted and the officer has nothing to hide, the officer will be vindicated. In this context, the grave danger to the public of not knowing circumstances of police abuse of power outweighs the recognized infringement on one’s right to privacy.

MALKA LYNNE TASOFF

Tarzana