Reports being withheld by Summit Hill Borough Council should be readily available to the public, according to Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.

On Tuesday, the council denied routine reports approved during its monthly meeting. Reports include zoning inspections and police reports.

The action was taken at the recommendation of its solicitor Attorney Robert Frycklund.

Frcklund said, for example, the police report could contain information about investigations.

“It sounds like this is a request for aggregated data under the law. Aggregated data is a record that doesn’t contain specific details. It’s just raw numbers; for example, how many arrests for burglary, how many arrests for harassment, how many arrests for assault, when those arrests happened, etc. Aggregated data records are not investigative and cannot be denied based on the criminal investigation exemption,” Melewsky said.

She added that Section 708(d) of the right to know law makes clear that requests for aggregated data cannot be denied based on the majority of the exemptions in the right to know law, including the criminal investigation exemption.

“If the agency tracks this kind of data, and it sounds like it does - it is undeniably public. In addition, the police blotter is expressly public under section 708(b) (16), and the police blotter must include the name of the person charged, the charges and the date,” Melewsky said.

She added, “The police department, and the borough in general, should be forthcoming with this kind of basic information because it provides accountability, oversight, and it allows the public to understand what’s happening in their community and the police response to it. Residents should not have to wonder whether they’re living in a high crime area and they should not have to wonder whether their police department is performing appropriately.

“These records allow the public to understand what’s happening in their community, take steps to protect themselves and their property, and to call for changes if necessary.”

A formal request for that information is not needed, Melewsky said.

“It should be readily available at the same time it’s presented to the board,” she added. “The right to know law makes clear that records presented to a quorum for deliberation at a public meeting are public records, and if there is content that needs to be redacted, it can be, but that doesn’t mean the entire record is withheld.”

Police reports are important to the community, Melewsky said.

“Law enforcement plays an absolutely critical role in the community that it serves, and that role demands transparency and accountability. The records were talking about here do exactly that and they should be readily available and provided without unnecessary delay or administrative barriers,” she said.