WASHINGTON — A Maryland court official said Monday the scrubbing of police officers’ names from the Maryland state court database was an honest mistake.
In a letter to the members of the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure at the Maryland Court of Appeals, retired Court of Appeals Judge Alan Wilner, the chairman, said the deletion of the names of police officers from the database “was an honest mistake, not for any improper motive, but a mistake that never should have occurred.” He offered an apology to his colleagues.
According to the judge, rules changes regarding what information would be included on the Maryland Judiciary Case Search website became scrambled. Instead of limiting identifying information to the initials, last name, rank and ID numbers of police officers, all information regarding the identification of police officers was eliminated from the case search website.
“That ultimately is what has caused the problem,” Wilner wrote.
Anne Arundel County Police Lt. Ryan Frashure said that his department had lobbied to change the practice of having an officer’s first and last name appear in the case search database, saying, “We’ve had situations here in the county where officers do receive threats at home.” But he said his department suggested limiting the information to the initials, last name, rank and ID number — not that the officer’s names be removed completely.
An emergency meeting at the Maryland Court of Appeals is set for Tuesday afternoon. The meeting will address the topic, and will consider changing the rules so that the information on police officers could be restored.
