The Little Rock Police Department on Friday completed a local blogger and city government critic's request for photographs of all nonundercover officers, court records show.
The department initially provided Russ Racop with about 420 photographs but did not include the officers' names. Also excluded were more than 50 images that were not accessible at the time administrators prepared the photo disk June 29, according to an affidavit.
A court order from Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen, filed Thursday, compelled police to provide the names and the remaining photos to Racop under the state's Freedom of Information Act.
Little Rock Police Department spokesman Steve Moore declined to comment on why the names of the officers were not initially provided along with the photos.
Racop said in a Thursday filing that the photos he received had been modified to replace the officers' names with numbers or cropped to hide the nameplates on their uniforms.
On Friday, he said he initially could not download the new photos provided on a disk at the city attorney's office, but he ended up getting everything. Deputy City Attorney Rick Hogan said Racop had trouble downloading the photos because of the volume of files on his own laptop.
Racop had sued the Little Rock Police Department after twice requesting photographs of all police officers in April, citing the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
The Little Rock Police Department, at the recommendation of City Attorney Tom Carpenter, revised its policy that month to no longer release any head shots of police officers. Carpenter cited a 2014 attorney general's opinion that describes undercover officers' photographs as personnel records that are exempt from the state's open records laws.
Police eventually turned over the photos of nonundercover officers after Racop, acting as his own lawyer, faced off with city attorneys before Griffen in a lawsuit Racop filed in June. Griffen sided with Racop's argument that the police pictures, aside from photos of undercover officers, are public records that must be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act.
Racop, 59, runs several blogs critical of Arkansas government and agencies, including Bad City of Little Rock, Bad Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control, Bad Arkansas Department of Human Services and Bad Attorneys in Arkansas. He is also running for the Ward 6 position on the Little Rock Board of Directors.
Most of his critical posts focus on Little Rock police officers. He often illustrates his posts with photos that are altered to illustrate his point.
Racop has said he intends to use the newly acquired police photos to supplement his growing collection of police disciplinary reports, firings and resignations. He said he also is compiling a "liars list" of police officers who have been found to be dishonest but who are still working.
Additionally, Racop said he wants to use the pictures to somewhat alter the focus of his posts by regularly highlighting good work done by officers.
Information for this article was contributed by John Lynch and Ginny Monk of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and by Chelsea Boozer for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 07/07/2018