The criticism in a recent letter to the editor regarding the publishing of the names of police officers accused in complaints was absurd. The author obviously doesn’t understand the basic function of a free press is to hold public officials accountable.
What is more, the district attorney’s office regularly releases the names of those they charge in press releases, which are subsequently posted on the Police Department’s social media page. The press will also publish the content of those releases almost verbatim, without any independent scrutiny. Nor will any criticism from the public typically follow for the lack thereof. And the reporters did seek comment from those named in their article, a courtesy not typically given to those cited in the press releases of law enforcement in a society where the accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Given the perspective expressed in his aggressively toned and myopic letter, the author seems to favor a state-controlled media informing the public on its own terms more consistent with that of oppressive regimes, not that of a free society.
Michael Seward
Shelburne