Allegheny County Council members yesterday said safety trumps transparency when it comes to searching the county's real estate Web site by owners' names.

In a 9-6 vote, council members approved county Chief Executive Dan Onorato's proposal to change the county's real estate Web site so that computerized searches by property owners' names will no longer be possible.

"If you know the property, you can find out the owner's name. I don't think we should have ever been able to search by name," said Councilman Mike Finnerty, D-Scott. He supported the change, he said, because removing searches by name will not restrict county residents' access to information about other people's property values.

The change is to go into effect immediately.

In changing the search functions, County Council reversed a policy it instituted in 2003, when it approved what information could be accessed on the real estate Web site. That ordinance allowed users to search for the assessed values of 550,000 properties by address, block and lot number, owner name, street and municipality.

In 2005, Mr. Onorato agreed to remove the names of about 100 judges from the site after receiving such a request from Chief U.S. District Judge Donetta W. Ambrose.

Other law enforcement officials and the Fraternal Order of Police recently lined up behind Mr. Onorato's latest proposal, urging County Council to ban searches by name, calling it a security risk.

Bethel Park Police Chief John Mackey yesterday told council that the continued use of searches by name jeopardized the security of law enforcement officials throughout the county, especially since eliminating such a search function would not significantly alter the use of the real estate Web site.

"The potential for abuse is so great and yet the relative benefit is so small," Chief Mackey said.

But Phil Marcus, a Squirrel Hill resident, was not convinced. Mr. Marcus said the law enforcement community was playing upon the "irrational fears of a bogeyman" to push a change that hinders transparency in government.

"These are arguments about fears of the unknown," he said. "I believe this is all about the judges, police and other officials who don't want us to see the assessed values of their properties. We need more transparency in government, not less."

In voting against the change, Councilman Dave Fawcett, R-Oakmont, said he was troubled by the precedent the change would set and added that "people need to feel that they have the ability to get information."

Voting "no" along with Mr. Fawcett were council members Brenda Frazier, D-Stanton Heights, William E. Lestitian, D-Brookline, Robert J. Macey, D-West Mifflin, James Burn Jr., D-Millvale, and Rich Fitzgerald, D-Squirrel Hill.

"This is a safety issue and we all recognize it. I am very happy with what the council did tonight," said James Malloy, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, an ardent supporter of changing the Web site's search functions.