We'd still be in the dark if we'd waited for police to give us the details, but city Police Chief Dominic J. Costa was faulted by an internal investigation four years ago for his tactics at a standoff in Homewood when he was a ranking officer. He retired and police kept the report secret for four years, until Mr. Costa was tapped for the police chief's job this year and a reporter ferreted out the hidden records.

Welcome to Sunshine Week, when the nation's newspapers call the public's attention to the importance of open records and open meetings. "Sunshine laws" decree what kind of government business can legally be done outside public scrutiny, but enforcement is spotty and penalties are light. Public servants on every level of government sometimes take advantage.

Almost any reporter can count off the popular shades of Sunshine violations:

Police officers who protect "sensitive" suspects by slipping them through the booking system before bothering to fill out the public arrest paperwork.

County registries that charge a dollar per sheet for photocopies of public records -- a complicated case can easily cost $100.

State legislators who vote themselves pay raises in the wee hours of the morning.

A federal administration that uses the horrors of Sept. 11 to justify illegal wiretaps, covert prisons and an arrogant disregard for the Geneva Conventions.

"Nationally, more records are being closed to the public every day," said Susan Schwartz, Pennsylvania coordinator for Sunshine Week. "Legislators think they can get away with keeping citizens in the dark because they believe most people don't care."

People don't care "... until the flood comes and you discover that they've been lying to you about the levees," added Hodding Carter III, a former newspaperman from Mississippi who chairs the national effort. "Sunshine Week is about reaffirming the basic American belief that government belongs to the people and there is no such thing as 'government information.' It is the people's information."

Pennsylvania's public records law is considered one of the weakest in the nation. It is riddled with loopholes, exceptions and vague language. We need some wattage behind our Sunshine Law, to better expose deeds done in darkness with our tax dollars.