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Nov 3, 2006 5:12 pm US/Central
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Your Library May Be A Safe Haven For Criminals
Library Confidential: Police Say Library Law Hinders Their Ability To Nab Offenders
by Dave Savini
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (CBS) ―
A little-known law may be turning your local library into a safe haven for criminals.
Thursday night, CBS 2's Save Savini exposed serious crimes and inappropriate behavior going on at libraries in the city and suburbs, and being kept confidential.
Friday CBS 2 takes a look at why police say libraries are hindering their efforts to stop crime.
"I don't understand why the library would protect somebody like that," said Lauren Gauger.
She is talking about
Richard Blaszak.
Thursday, CBS 2 Investigators reported the story of Richard Blaszak, who was seen touching himself at the
Naperville library on two separate occasions. Police were called by upset patrons.
"When we arrived, we were not able to quickly identify that person," said Chief David Dial of the Naperville Police Department.
Police were not able to arrest Blaszak immediately because he had left before they arrived. That placed Blaszak under the protection of a little-known law called the
Library Confidentiality Act.
"We have helped these laws be created and passed because they balance the right of the users of the libraries with the rights of law enforcement officer," said Judith Krug of the
American Library Association.
The current law prohibits library staff from revealing the identity of a patron to police once they have left the library.
"I think it protects criminals unduly. We do not want to tread on anybody's rights to privacy or anything else but we do not believe libraries should be sanctuaries for criminals," said Dial.
A court order is needed before a library will release a patron's personal information, causing what police say are costly delays in catching suspects.
Police now want the current confidentiality laws amended to require only probable cause rather than a court order from police.
"We would certainly look at it to see if it is something that we could use," Krug said.
Blaszak pled guilty and state's attorney's say he was in violation of his parole when 2 Investigators found him.
Police are working with State Repesentative
Joe Dunn on legislation that would give police access to library records immediately in cases of imminent danger.
They say waiting for a court order in the case of child abduction would be impractical.
(CBS 2, the Naperville Sun and the Aurora Beacon-News are news partners covering stories in the western suburbs of Chicago.)