The Chicago Police Department is set to enforce an existing law that requires journalists seeking credentials from the department to be fingerprinted and photographed and to submit to a background check. The department says the measures are necessary due to threats the city has received since Sept. 11. "We wanted to tighten up and add some real integrity to our media credential process," David Bayless, director of news affairs for the CPD, told the The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. The Chicago chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists has sent a letter to Mayor Daley challenging the constitutionality of the policy. The Headline Club, Chicago's local SPJ, has invited Chicago Police spokesman Pat Camden to a public meeting on March 22, Noon to 1 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Tribune Tower. The public is required to RSVP.

Report from The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press