BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — When Suffolk County District Attorney Rachel Rollins published the names of 136 police officers with "questionable" credibility on Friday night, she joined two other Massachusetts District Attorneys who have already released similar lists.
Middlesex County DA Marian Ryan said she's been publishing her own list for several years. She told WBZ NewsRadio there are a number of reasons a law enforcement officer's name may appear on one of these spreadsheets.
"They might have been charged with a crime," Ryan said. "They might have had a judge who in another case made a finding that he or she was not credible."
Read More: Suffolk DA Releases List Of Police "Whose Credibility Is Questionable"
Since 1963, prosecutors have been required to turn over evidence that might be favorable to a defendant. Sometimes, that includes information on an officer's background that might undermine their credibility as a witness. Ryan said the public release of lists is all about transparency.
"We are sometimes in the position when we're taking away a liberty, and when you're doing that it's important that people have faith in the process that did that," Ryan said. "This is how we ensure the integrity of the process."
Suffolk County DA Rollins' office initially did not want to release its list, but it finally made the database public Friday night, after receiving pressure from WBUR and the Boston Globe, who appealed to the state's Supervisor of Records.
WBZ NewsRadio's Matt Shearer reports:
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