As an LEO but not a lawyer... Araki has an oddly accurate understanding of the American legal system. Not perfect, but I've seen stuff like this happen before. Meryl Mei is well within her right to not disclose a student's personal information and to also be afraid. Replace the 2 Stand users with real cops and you have a big lawsuit on your hands. I understand that this is Jojo's and also a fictional story but those glasses only let her see if someone is afraid (at least from what I understand). She was definitely ready to just torture or kill a random bystander if they straight up didn't know who Paco was lol. How did she know???