By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – The names and addresses of crime victims will no longer be routinely available to the public beginning June Fourth. The Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center Commission approved changing the forms used for police reports. Advocates of open government and the Alabama Press Association opposed concealing crime victims' names on police reports. Police departments and prosecutors generally favored the change, though, saying crime victims should be protected. Commissioners recognized that such information historically has been available to reporters, and the commission has asked police departments to continue releasing it to the media.