(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned a Florida police association for posting the name of WFOS TV-CBS 4 reporter Mike Kirsch in the “Be On the Look-Out” (BOLO) section of its website, which is normally reserved for fugitives from justice and missing persons. This was done after Kirsch used a hidden camera to […]
(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned a Florida police association for posting the name of WFOS TV-CBS 4 reporter Mike Kirsch in the “Be On the Look-Out” (BOLO) section of its website, which is normally reserved for fugitives from justice and missing persons. This was done after Kirsch used a hidden camera to produce a report about the difficulty of filing a complaint against a police officer in South Florida police stations.
“As much as the police have a right to question Kirsch’s use of a concealed camera, it is unacceptable for them to retaliate by circulating his details as if he were a dangerous individual,” RSF said. “Aside from the fact that it smacks of childish revenge and tale-telling, it is a violation of civil rights. We therefore call for Kirsch’s name to be taken down from the www.bcpba.org site.”
Kirsch produced his report at the beginning of 2006 with the help of the Police Complaint Centre, a police watchdog group. Equipped with a concealed camera, volunteers tried to file complaints in 38 police stations in Miami-Dade and Broward, two neighbouring counties in South Florida. Most of the time they met with hostility. According to CBS 4, only three police stations cooperated.
Kirsch himself showed the footage they had shot to two senior Miami police officials before the report was screened at the start of February.
The Broward County Police Benevolent Association quickly reacted by posting Kirsch’s details in the BOLO section of its website. It was temporarily withdrawn when CBS 4’s lawyers protested. But Kirsch’s name and photo were put back on 17 March, along with the address and mobile phone number of Gregory Slate, one of the Police Complaint Centre’s volunteers. An accompanying warning says the two men could try to entrap police officers and could be driving a red and black Ford Mustang car, the licence number of which is given.
Despite repeated complaints by CBS 4’s lawyers and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and enquiries by RSF yesterday, Kirsch’s name is still on the http://www.bcpba.org site.
