united-states criminal-procedure investigation law-enforcement public-records
Is it legal to release the identities of investigators of an active case?
<p>I first want to preface this by saying what I don't know regarding preliminary details:</p>
<ol>
<li>I don't know whether there are public records of all the police officers and detectives working at a precinct.</li>
<li>I don't know how simple it is to find someone's address just from knowing their name. In my country, there are databases that give you someone's address just from knowing their name/phone number, <strong>if</strong> they allow that info to be public. Not sure if this is the case in the US.</li>
</ol>
<p>So, let's say I know Detective John Jameson works on a case about a serial killer, maybe because he questioned me in relation to the case. Am I allowed to spread this info?</p>
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<p>Motivation for asking:</p>
<p>I find the idea of having the identities of the investigators of a case known to be problematic; in some cases, wont this endager them, or the case, through making them a target of assassination or bribery/blackmail? Therefore, I could see there being a law prohibiting the spreading of this info. However, if that's the case, I would also think that they then were allowed to use fake badges when questioning witnesses, though I don't think that's legal (not sure).</p>
<p>On the other hand, a criminal investigation is a governmental affair, and thus I could see certain details of it being subject to requirements of public availability. Also, perhaps the addresses detectives and police officers aren't searchable in public databases, meaning this is a non-issue?</p>
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<p>So, what is info can legally be spread about the investigators of an active case?</p>

<p>If a police officer interrogates you, and you know his identity (name or badge number for example), you can publicize this information. The results of the investigation are, in most (perhaps all) US jurisdictions not yet a public subject to mandatory disclosure, meaning that you can't force the police to reveal the name of an officer leading an investigation, but there is no criminal prohibition against you revealing such facts if you know them.</p>
<p>Personal information about police officers is usually not subject to mandatory disclosure under public records law. It may be possible to obtain a home address from county property records, but that is highly variable from county to county. Assessor searches often do not generate listings of properties owned by a name, instead they give you the name of the person who owns a property.</p>
