Now the public will know the rules cops are supposed to follow

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Orlando police leaders say they’re preparing to take the bold step of posting on their website the rules and regulations that officers are required to follow.

Posting this information online will give the public unprecedented transparency into how OPD officers are supposed to behave and how the department operates.

Making this information easily available to the public puts officers on notice to always act within departmental rules.

This decision by OPD is particularly timely in the wake of the recent fatal shooting of a man by an OPD officer during an incident at Colonial Plaza. After that shooting, many people asked questions about the guidelines for using deadly force and opening fire close to the public.

David Porter, the publisher of www.32805OrlNews.com, proposed publishing OPD’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) several months ago during a Police Review Board meeting at City Hall. After that meeting, he discussed the proposal with OPD Chief John Mina. Mina said the department was already working on that idea.

This past Monday, Porter followed up with an email he sent to Mina.  At Wednesday morning’s Review Board meeting Porter asked again about posting the SOP. Wednesday afternoon a member of Mina’s staff responded with an email, that read in part: “I am glad to inform you that we are working to get the information posted as soon as possible and should be available online soon.”

In the response, Lt. James Young, wrote: “Our policies have always been made public, and anyone was welcome to them through a public-records request.  We look forward to having this information on line, so requests may no longer be needed for this type of information. We value the trust that our community has in its police department.”

The New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago police departments and the Florida Highway Patrol are among the agencies that have posted their SOPs online to make that information easily available to the public.

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