~ the hidden background of the powerful ~

I know this comes as a shock. So hold on to your hairpiece. A different set of rules apply to the rich and powerful than to the majority population. And it's not good. A more searing lens should be spotted on those in power but not according to Calumet City Illinois Police Chief Patrick O'Meara. Apparently, arrests of a mayoral candidate, a cop who made threats, and the arrests of the other mayoral candidate's son, were secreted away by the police department in a private file not available to the media.

"It's not like we are trying to hide anything," O'Meara said of the file. "What we don't want is someone who does not like (an employee) to walk into the records department and start handing out the report as a political move."

I see. It's public unless I, the Great Haji, determine that it may dirty the nose of a politician.

The news reporter makes no excuses: "Under Illinois law, police must make available to the media the identity of a person arrested and any charges filed against the person."

This begs the question, the challenge to the private investigator developing deep background. How can you get a public record if you don't know it's there and the agency denies it has it?