I don't think the woman's life was in danger in having to wait a few minutes to be identified. Were the police not going to finish pulling her from the river or treating her with emergency medical care? "Oh, well, the library won't tell us who she is. Put her back in the river, Mac. Let her freeze to death."
If someone calls on the phone (with no proof they are a law enforcement officer), says they have someone else's library card and demands personal identifying information about the owner of the card, I don't want that information given out willy-nilly without the proper procedures in place. The library followed the procedures, determined it was a legitimate law enforcement request and was ready to release the information within 10 minutes. What exactly is the problem with that?
My point wasn't meant to be about this case but rather what it will take to get the policy changed. Somewhere, sometime, somebody will die, and the example will need to be made.
That wasn't the procedure. They initally required a court order. Somebody made an immediate decision to overrule the rule. It was only luck that everything and everyone came together that quickly.
As for confirming who it was, I'd say, "Call you back at 911" and that's hard to beat for validating you're talking to the police.
Not probable but it is possible that 10 minutes could have been a problem if she had a condition that needed immediate attention.
What pisses me off about these things is that the librarians are so ACLU anal when it comes to their worldview that even the obvious is a mystery to them.