Officers on ‘Laurie’ list reported in some counties

Hillsborough County’s chief law enforcement officer is declining to release the number of local police officers who could have credibility issues should they be called to testify in court. Patricia LaFrance, who took office last month as Hillsborough County attorney, will not release the number of officers included on the county’s so-called “Laurie list” of officers with potential credibility issues until she has had a chance to review the records, LaFrance said this week. State law, implemented last year in support of a longstanding state policy, requires authorities to track officers cited for a wide range of possible infractions, ranging from planting   evidence to lying in court. The records are kept confidential as part of the officers’ personnel files, but, if the officers are called to testify in court, authorities must submit the records to a judge, who then decides if they are relevant to the case and must be submitted to the defense. Officials from the attorney general’s office did not return calls seeking comment for this story, but according to prior media reports, they have previously instructed county officials to release the number of officers on the “Laurie list.” “Honestly, it hardly comes up,” LaFrance, the Hillsborough attorney, said of the credibility issues detailed on the lists. ”Most of the officers no longer work for the department.