A matter of public record

WHAT CHANGED? That's the key question for members of the Los Angeles Police Commission, who secretly reversed a 25-year-old policy of publicly disclosing the names of police officers involved in shootings. Though the commission finally discussed the issue at a public meeting Tuesday, two months after making the decision behind closed doors, commissioners didn't adequately explain why a policy that has worked just fine for a quarter of a century is no longer viable. They need to.

That said, it's going to be hard to come up with a justification. When police officers are involved in a shooting, their identities matter — because without them, it's impossible to know whether specific officers pose a problem. Using the names in police reports, The Times was able to determine in 2004 that a small group of officers was involved in a disproportionate number of shootings. Yes, police officers have a right to privacy, but details of shooting incidents should be a matter of public record.