Sheriff Watson’s statement regarding delay of arrest reports over the weekend

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office responded today to our article over the weekend concerning the delayed release to the media of arrest reports from the jail.

Captain Kaley Behl sent us the following statement:

“Last week, an arrest mittimus was released prior to redaction which led to the victim’s information being erroneously given to the media. This created a need to place additional safeguards in the public records release process to ensure this error is not repeated in the future. Please understand the rights of victims supersede the public’s right to know.

“Sheriff Watson believes in full transparency.  Delaying the release of public information in a timely manner is not consistent with the Sheriff’s vision and he himself was not a part of the decision making process this weekend to create a delay in the release of arrest reports. Neither has there been a change in agency policy with respect to the release of such documentation.  This is simply a case of a communication breakdown, which the Sheriff is addressing to make sure this type of delay does not happen again.

“We are committed to building and maintaining a positive and cooperative partnership between the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office and the media.  Our common goal should always be to inform and serve the community we represent.”

Our requests from Friday and Sunday were fulfilled first thing this morning, and this morning’s requests were fulfilled in less than five minutes. After we sent a reminder about our requests from Saturday, those were also fulfilled today.