Brickbats

Secretive Police

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What happens when someone walks into a police department or sheriff's office in south Florida and asks for a form to file a complaint against an officer? Well, a local TV station's hidden camera found many officers were polite and professional but many others denied the forms existed, said they didn't have them and even threatened and taunted the people asking for them. What happens when a TV station runs that footage? One officer caught on tape cursing and screaming at the person asking for the form files for an injunction to stop the footage from being broadcast. And the name, address and driver's license number of the reporter who did the story somehow winds up on the Web site of the Broward County Police Benevolent Association as a BOLO or "be on the lookout." After the station's lawyer sent a letter to the PBA, the reporter's personal information was removed, but his photo remains on the site.