When police officers engage an armed suspect, do they by default become crime victims? With the implementation of a new law in Ohio last year, police departments are making that case.

Citing Marsy’s Law – an amendment to the state’s constitution designed to provide privacy and other rights to crime victims – the Cincinnati Police Department denied a request from The Enquirer to provide the names of the officers involved in the June 27 fatal shooting of Juan Mack, who stabbed a woman in Westwood and fled from police. According to Chief Teresa Theetge, Mack pointed a gun at police during the pursuit and ignored commands to drop his weapon when he exited his vehicle near Music Hall.

Theetge called the officers’ actions heroic and said the situation had “all the makings of a catastrophic incident.” The shooting occurred about 15 minutes before the opening-night performance of the opera “La Traviata” at Music Hall.

At a news conference, the chief said the officers used proper tactics, and there’s little reason to doubt her. Bystander video obtained by The Enquirer supports her early conclusion. Nonetheless, the department has launched an internal investigation, and Cincinnati’s Citizen Complaint Authority will open its own investigation, said Mayor Aftab Pureval.

Prior to the passage of Marsy’s Law, named for Marsalee Ann Nicholas, a college student in California with Cincinnati ties who was killed by her former boyfriend, it was standard practice for law enforcement officials to release the names of officers involved in fatal shootings. Open records advocates, including yours truly, consider this transparency a matter of public trust and accountability. The shooting near Music Hall isn’t raising red flags; in fact, officers are being praised for preventing what could have been a tragedy. But what if the video told a different story? What if the shooting raised questions on whether officers were justified in their use of lethal force? The public has a right to know, for example, if any of the officers involved have an excessive number of citizen complaints or disciplinary actions in their personnel files.

Ohio isn’t the only state wrestling with the unintended consequences of Marcy’s Law. Eight other states, including Kentucky, have enacted versions of the victims’ rights law, and the courts have started to weigh in. Last November, the supreme court in Florida ruled in a case involving police in Tallahassee that Marsy’s Law can’t be used to shield the identities of officers who use deadly force.

The Columbus Dispatch, our sister publication to the north, filed a complaint with the Ohio Supreme Court last October after the Columbus Division of Police repeatedly refused to release body camera footage and the names of officers involved in fatal shootings. Central to the complaint is the department’s denial of a request for the names of eight officers involved in a shootout last July on Interstate 70 that left a bank robbery suspect dead and an officer injured. Oral arguments before the court have not yet been scheduled.

We haven’t gone to court for the names of the officers involved in the shooting near Music Hall, but we did ask our attorney to send the city a letter suggesting that their interpretation of Marsy’s Law was a stretch. Other police departments in the state, including Canton’s, have provided names when pushed by news organizations. Our hope is that the city’s legal department weighs in and common sense prevails.

Let me be clear – the rights afforded to victims of serious crimes by Marsy’s Law is a good thing. In fact, The Enquirer has its own policies – predating Marcy’s Law – that protect the identities of most juveniles involved in crimes and the victims of sexual assault.

It also should be noted that the issue of allowing police departments to withhold the identities of police officers in certain circumstances is worthy of debate. You probably can figure out what side I would take, but it’s not out of the question to have the discussion on its own merits.

What’s not OK is exploiting the confusion surrounding a new piece of legislation to bypass Ohio’s longstanding open records laws that ensure police officers empowered to use lethal force are held accountable to the public they have sworn to serve and protect.

Enquirer Executive Editor Beryl Love writes a biweekly column that takes you behind the scenes at The Enquirer. Occasionally, he shares his thoughts on local issues, particularly as they pertain to a free press and open government. Email him at blove@enquirer.com. He can’t respond personally to every email, but he reads them all.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio police use Marsy’s Law to shield officers in fatal shootings