Tough on Crime

Protect Police Officers, Informants and Witnesses From Having Their Personal Information Revealed Online

The House of Representatives unanimously passed my legislation to protect police officers, undercover agents, informants and witnesses in a criminal investigation or prosecution from having their personal information posted on the internet. Posting personal data with the intent to threaten, intimidate, or harm these people is now illegal under this legislation.

When news reports shed light on a new website devoted to identifying some 4300 informants and 400 undercover agents, complete with photos, court documents, employment information and city of residence, plus another active website offering the home addresses of New York City police officers - it was clear that we needed to act.

This isn’t the first time sensitive personal information of those protecting Americans has been exposed online. In 2005, in reaction to a series of deadly court related incidents, including the murder of a federal judge's relatives, whose home address and family photographs were posted on the web, a Judicial Conference called on the Justice Department and U.S. Marshals Service to review judicial security, particularly security at judges’ homes.

In 2004, a Queens man previously found guilty of harassing a New York City police lieutenant, posted a website revealing the addresses, phone numbers, hangouts, and children's names of New York City police officers. The site even included photographs of undercover cops, who rely on anonymity to do their jobs. The site not only endangered the officers that serve this country, but also their co-workers, family, and neighbors.

My legislation passed unanimously in July 2007, it was part of the Court Security Improvement Act, a bipartisan bill to protect the courts, which would make it illegal to possess dangerous weapons in a federal court facility, increase funding to Marshals Service for the protection of judges and extend Marshals protection to tax court judges and some retired senior judges. To read the text of the bill click here