Elmhurst Mum On City Hall Disturbance

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst has decided to keep secret its police report on a disturbance that occurred more than a month ago at City Hall.

The city has not revealed whether the incident involved employees.

On Friday, the city clerk's office denied Patch's request for the report. It cited the exception under the state's open records law to withhold documents that would constitute a "clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."

The clerk's office said it arrived at its decision after consulting with the city attorney and the attorney general's office, which rules on appeals of denials of records.

The city had delayed its response to Patch's April 28 request beyond the state-mandated deadline of five business days. It can do so in certain circumstances.

Occasionally, the city denies the release of a police report because a matter remains under investigation, which it is legally allowed to do. Citing another reason, however, is unusual.

The city often uses the "personal privacy" exception to black out information in police reports such as birthdates.