Redaction

Explanation from Conneticut State Police

While the wide range of information contained in these reports is presumed to be public, there are many statutes and regulations at both the state and federal levels that either prohibit disclosure, or allow withholding, of certain subsets of information. Each redaction throughout the report is marked with a two-digit code which corresponds to the legal basis supporting it as noted on the attached index. While this coding system makes clear the foundation of each redaction, several types of information that have been withheld warrant additional explanation.

1. Throughout this report, the names and contextually identifying information of involved children have been withheld. This contextual information includes descriptions or images of children, their clothing and their belongings and references to their family members as examples. While the names of the deceased victims are well known, certain facts pertaining to the individual children are not, and the identities of surviving children are not generally known. Consistent with certain permissive exemptions of the Freedom of Information Act and the constitutional rights of crime victims we have chosen to withhold that information.
2. The names and contextually identifying information of most witnesses have been withheld. In the immediate aftermath of the incident and throughout the investigation, many individuals whose identities became public as associated with the incident in various ways have been subject to harassment and/or intimidation. In an effort to protect those whose identities are not otherwise known, we have chosen to exercise the applicable permissive exemption. This has been applied in the written reports, as well as in the multimedia, including audio and video recordings. The exemption is not being applied to those individuals whom we believe to be otherwise generally known or to witnesses whose involvement is professional in nature (ex. first responders).
3. All visual images depicting the deceased have been withheld, as well as written descriptions whose disclosure would be highly offensive to a reasonable person and would violate the constitutional rights of the families.

Balancing the often-competing interests of government transparency and individual privacy has been difficult. I believe that the redacted report that is being released includes as much detail as possible while protecting confidential information and without unduly infringing on the privacy rights of those whose lives have been so profoundly impacted through no fault of their own.

Redaction Index