Silence After a Shooting

The District owes some answers on a police officer's actions.

"THE PUBLIC policy of the District of Columbia is that all persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those who represent them as public officials and employees." That is what's on the city books concerning the release of public information. So why, we wonder, are officials withholding basic information about a fatal shooting involving an off-duty D.C. police officer?

Jelani K. Slay, 34, of Clinton, is dead after being shot early Sunday morning in Southeast Washington by an off-duty police officer. The officer told investigators he was in his private vehicle about 5 a.m. after dropping off a friend when Mr. Slay, masked and brandishing a gun, attempted to rob him. Mr. Slay had been employed as a Metro bus driver and, as reported by the Washington Examiner, had a criminal record that included a conviction for armed robbery. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier told the D.C. Council that no rules appeared to have been broken in the shooting, which remains under investigation by the U.S. attorney's office and police internal affairs.

But police won't name the officer or answer basic questions, such as whether a gun was recovered. Initially, Post reporters were told it is not policy to release the names of officers involved in shootings. When we pressed, we got this e-mailed explanation: "In all past cases it has been the policy & practice not to release the name of any officer involved in a police shooting while the matter remains under investigation." We seem to remember the release of names of the officers involved in the shooting of Deonté Rawlings and a more open policy under former Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey when public scrutiny was seen as an important tool in righting the department's egregious record of excessive force. Given the city's refusal to provide a complete accounting of the circumstances surrounding the shooting of 14-year-old Deonté, is there reason to think information will be any more forthcoming in the case of Mr. Slay?

The District, unfortunately, is not alone in trying to give its police officers protections that would not be afforded a private citizen who shot or killed someone. David Simon, a former police reporter and now author and television producer, recently lamented in The Post's Outlook section that police departments "no longer regard the decision to shoot someone as the sort of responsibility for which officers might be required to stand before the public." Police officers face great dangers in doing often-thankless jobs, but they also benefit when the public has confidence in their actions.

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