While most Harvard University students enjoyed summer break, the university and its student newspaper became engaged in a legal battle over the university’s refusal to grant public access to records of the Harvard University Police Department.
Student journalists from The Harvard Crimson, represented by pro bono counsel from the American Civil Liberties Union, filed suit against the university July 30. The university responded to the lawsuit last week with a Motion to Dismiss, which requests that the Massachusetts court system refuse to hear the case.
The lawsuit stems from ‘an accumulation’ of fruitless attempts to access Harvard University police records, according to Amit Paley, a Harvard senior and president of the Crimson.
HUPD denied the newspaper’s request three years ago for records related to racial profiling in Harvard Yard, Paley said, and has also sealed records of sexual assaults and attempted suicides on campus.
Last year, Harvard police denied access to records regarding two students who allegedly embezzled $100,000 from a Harvard student organization. Although the case went to court, Paley said the paper was still unable to view the records, which included a confession the students had given to police.
As a result of the department’s repeated denials, the Crimson filed suit, requesting access to specific records, Paley said. He added, however, that the issue of accessing police records extends beyond the Harvard campus.
‘We think it’s a really important issue for student journalists and students,’ Paley said, ‘but it’s also a civil liberties issue for Cambridge residents,’ who fall under the jurisdiction of Harvard University police. Cambridge residents, like Harvard students, also are not permitted to view police records.
Instead of full reports, Paley said, HUPD provides a police blotter with brief descriptions of crimes and actions taken an offering that he said is inadequate.
‘For each incident there’s maybe two or three sentences really brief, really cursory vaguely describing what happened,’ he said. ‘It’s not enough for us to keep the public and our community informed about what the police are really doing.’
While Massachusetts General Law requires public agencies, including police, to make their crime reports available to the general public, Harvard police are not required to follow the law because they are employed by a private institution. Harvard University officials said in a statement that the university’s procedures are ‘sound and proper and in full compliance with the law.’
Unlike Harvard, Boston University requires its police department to follow the criteria of Massachusetts Public Records Law, obeying the same regulations as city and state police forces, according to BUPD Sergeant Jack St. Hilaire.
‘We’re a police department even though we work for a private institution, we follow the public agencies criteria,’ St. Hilaire said. ‘The reason we follow it is because it doesn’t hinder us in what we do.’
The BUPD allows students to view police reports for a fee, provided they do not deal with an ongoing investigation, domestic violence or sexual assaults, St. Hilaire said.
The police department also reviews crime logs with student journalists, St. Hilaire said, which allows officers to include information that would not have been included in a full public police report.
‘We try to give out as much as we can for public assistance and suspect information,’ he said, ‘because the public is a great asset in helping us catch people.’
Although BU police already follow public agency regulations, Paley said he hopes The Crimson’s case results in a ruling that will require all private university police departments to be subject to the public records law.
‘That would be a tremendous victory for the student press, student rights and accountability in public and private police forces,’ he said.