As cynical journalists often frustrated by stonewalling and secretive government officials, we were expecting the worst when we decided to sent a reporter to every police department and state police troop in Connecticut (103 of them) this spring to test compliance with the Freedom of Information Act.
And the results were pretty bad in a bunch of cases. The New Haven Police Department public information officer telling a reporter that “we keep secrets here” on that department’s way to an “F” grade sparked outrage from citizens of New Haven and open government advocates across the country.
But departments such as South Windsor showed that they are very serious about complying with the law, embracing public access to information about arrests and police activity, and that they have trained their rank-and-file staff well on these principles.

Read more here.