Alberta’s police departments will now operate under a unified, single framework when it comes to deciding whether the names of homicide victims should be released.
“It is important to be transparent, to be open, but you also have to respect the rights of the victims,” said Edmonton police Chief Rod Knecht.
Under Alberta privacy law, an individual’s “personal information” is protected for up to 25 years after their death. The law also considers a person’s name to be part of the information which is protected.
READ MORE: Police policy draft on naming homicide victims now with Alberta privacy commissioner
In a framework document released by the police chiefs, disclosing a name is considered to be “an unreasonable invasion” of a person’s privacy. The decision by police to release the name needs to be backed up with sufficient evidence to rebut the protections which the law affords a victim.
“There is just a lawful expectation of privacy even for deceased folks. That’s where you start,” Medicine Hat police Chief Andy McGrogan, the president of the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police, said Wednesday. “There are steps that we take to get to naming homicide victims in certain circumstances.”
“Obviously, the victims are the highest of priority,” Knecht said. “And the surviving families are the highest of priority, I think, for the community and the police.”
“And there’s a humanity aspect to this, an ethical aspect of this too. What’s the right thing to do for everyone involved? That’s the broader community as well as the individual.”
In the framework document, a number of considerations are outlined for police to take into account when deciding to release a name. They include:
- Whether it is in the “public good” to release the name.
- If the family of the victim wants the name released.
- If there is already an abundance of information about the homicide already released, and whether releasing the victim’s name links them to that other information, resulting in a greater invasion of their privacy.
- Whether releasing the name will disclose the identity or personal information of others.
- Whether releasing the name would correct false information.
- Whether the name will be released by other official sources in “short order.”
- The nature of the homicide and whether there’s a public safety consideration.
- The timing of the release as it relates to religious services and notifying relatives.
The framework dictates that regardless of the decision, the reasons for it should be documented.
“I think this document now actually does provide a check list for us to go through,” said Knecht.
“Public interest does not trump privacy,” said Calgary police Chief Roger Chaffin. “We have to figure out how they work well together.”
“Have we properly, soberly considered the issues at play before we release names?”
Until now, each department has outlined its own policy – most notably Edmonton Police, which has withheld the names of eleven homicide victims in 2017.
With files from The Canadian Press
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