Coast Guard to withhold names

The Coast Guard announced Aug. 24 it now will release rescued peoples’ names only during an active operation — a guideline media experts say exceeds privacy interests and could hamper objective reporting of the service’s performance.

In a servicewide message, assistant commandant for operations Rear Adm. David Pekoske said the names of people who are rescued or are the targets of a search-and-rescue operation can be released when the case is “open and active” but will be sealed after it is closed.

Those seeking the information after the case closes must file a Freedom of Information Act for it, but the message doesn’t indicate whether the service will release the information under FOIA.

The policy clarification results from a debate within the service about the privacy of rescued individuals. In 2005, while reporter Amanda Garrett of The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer was working on a story about ice rescues, she requested the names of people saved that year, and in previous winters, to determine whether the Coast Guard was spending taxpayer money to rescue “repeat offenders.”

Her request was denied, even as she and her editors met with then-9th District Commander Rear Adm. Robert Papp to discuss the issue.

“It’s that old rumor year after year, that it’s the same people getting rescued on the ice. We wanted to see if it was true,” Garrett said.

Click on the headline to read the full story by Patricia Kime in the Navy Times.