Arrest blotter ended over immigration enforcement concerns

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — Fairfax County police have stopped publishing a weekly arrest blotter after county officials found it violated a policy that restricts the dissemination of personal information that could aid immigration enforcement.

Immigrant rights and civil liberties groups had been pushing for the change, arguing the weekly compilations that include arrestees’ addresses and other details could allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to target immigrants for deportation and raise privacy concerns.

But open-government advocates and some politicians have criticized the move, saying it decreases police transparency and keeps critical safety information from the public, including details about some violent, sex and property crimes.

In a statement, ICE said that its “Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) does not use police blotter data to identify immigration enforcement targets in Fairfax County, Virginia,” and that officers use “intelligence-driven leads to identify specific individuals for arrest.”

Fairfax County police said it will continue to proactively release details of arrests in serious crimes, including homicides, shootings and offenses committed by those in positions of trust. Virginia residents will still be able to file Freedom of Information Act requests to get details of other arrests but will have to pay a processing fee.

Fairfax County police began to post the blotter on its website in 2016, after inquiries from the media and public about arrests, said police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. It included a date of the offense, name of the alleged offender, date of birth, charge, last known address of the offender and arrest location.

Guglielmi said the lists stopped being published as of Friday, meaning there is no comprehensive list of...