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The Editorial Board: Niagara Falls officials should have released shooting incident names promptly

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“Transparency is essential when a police officer causes the death of another person in the line of duty. It is a tragedy when this happens, but most often it is an unavoidable tragedy –and the sooner all the facts of the incident are disclosed, the better this can be publicly understood.
 
That’s why it’s very difficult to comprehend why the Niagara Falls Police Department did not release the names of a man who was killed and the officers who fired the shots that killed him until 35 days after the shooting.
 
It should be obvious why full details should be released as soon as possible, but maybe it can’t be stressed often enough that when information is withheld, public suspicion is bound to mount in direct proportion to the length of time it is kept in the dark. It’s natural to suspect– fairly or unfairly – that when officials deliberately remain silent, there is something they don’t want the public to know.”

The Author

Paul is the founder of the NY Coalition For Open Government and has truly loved seeing it become what it is today and is excited about its future growth.

As an attorney for 32 years, he is a partner in the law firm of Berzer & Wolf. Prior to his private law practice, Paul served in several government positions with the Buffalo Common Council, Buffalo Housing Authority, and Erie County.

When he is not practicing law and doing open government stuff, Paul enjoys spending time with his spouse, Cheryl, and his three children, Michael, Joseph, and Julia. Paul resides in Amherst, NY, a suburb of Buffalo.

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