A number of commenters on an earlier post argued that the police should not publish photos of those arrested in drug raids because people are innocent until proven guilty. In fact, some went so far as to say putting arrestees’ photos on the web would be unconstitutional. Other bloggers have weighed in as well.

But on the web right now is this information:

Robbery

Shawn L. Burch, 28, of 404 E. Republic St. was arrested about 8 p.m. Sunday in the 700 block of Northeast Adams Street and booked on charges of robbery and mob action with injury. He allegedly attacked and stole jackets from two women Sunday afternoon on Madison Avenue.

Mary J. Schertz, 23, of 2610 W. Humboldt Ave. was arrested about 6 p.m. Sunday at the Peoria Police Department, 600 SW Adams St., and booked on charges of robbery, aggravated battery and mob action. She attacked two women last week in South Peoria, striking them with a softball and stealing one of their purses, police said.

Weapons

Bryant K. Carter, 43, of 914 W. Hampshire Road was arrested about 7:40 p.m. Monday in the 900 block of West Hampshire Road and booked on charges of unlawful use of weapons, having an expired firearm owner’s identification card and disorderly conduct.

Where is this information, you may ask? The police department’s website, perhaps? No. It’s the Journal Star’s site. And it’s under the category “Arrests.” And it appeared in print on September 9, to boot.

So, the question is, should this information be suppressed until there is a conviction? Is it wrong to publish this public information? It gives names, addresses, and the reason each person was arrested — and if they’re not convicted, there’s nothing published to clear their name after the fact. What’s the difference between this journalistic practice and the police doing the same thing for drug arrests on their website (with one difference: adding a picture of the arrestees)?

Frankly, I think what the police department is suggesting is actually less invasive. You might run across these names in the paper while you’re looking at the local news. You’d have to deliberately visit the police department’s website to see the pictures. Compare the number of hits to the Peoria Police Department site with the Journal Star’s — then add in the paper’s circulation numbers.

Should there be outrage against the paper’s publishing of these innocent (until proven guilty) people’s names and addresses? Should arrests be suppressed in the media, and only convictions reported?