BREAKING NEWS: Domestic Violence Shield Bill to be Pulled.

March 2, 2010.  2:15 pm. — State Rep. Fred Camillo confirmed that he is withdrawing his bill (A.5344) which would have banned the release of the names of those arrested for domestic violence.   He plans to work on strengthening and clarifying the bill for next session.

Rep. Camillo hopes to work in the off-session with police officials, domestic violence experts and victims’ advocates on a bill for next session that accomplishes the same goal, but eliminates the gray area of concern on this bill.

Rep. Camillo, a strong law and order lawmaker, said he was withdrawing the bill for this session at the request of Greenwich Police Chief David Ridberg because there was some misinterpretation of the bill’s language and intent.  The bill was also opposed in its current form by the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association.  Rep. Camillo said, “Why would I continue if the people I really want to help are opposed?”

“Chief Ridberg issued the following statement: “We are sorry for any miscommunication on this issue.  Lt. [Rick] Cochran had been under the impression the proposed bill was only intended to shield the identity of domestic violence victims.  However, the Greenwich Police Department is NOT in favor of shielding the identity of arrested persons.

“We advocate that any information that leads to identifying a victim of domestic violence should not be part of the public record, but I am not sure how that can be effectively legislated.

“We are fortunate in Greenwich that the local media does not generally release information that identifies domestic violence victims and we would urge your organizations to continue that practice.

“We agree with the spirit of Representative Camillo’s bill as it attempts to help victims of domestic violence, but we do not agree that identities of persons arrested for domestic violence should be kept from the public record.”