CALIFORNIA — The University of California at Daviswon the right to protect 14 campus police investigatory reportsfrom public release after a judge ruledon Feb. 26 that the reports were exempt from the state’s open-recordslaw.
Sacramento County Superior Count Judge Talmadge R. Jones ruledthat the university was only required to disclose "informationderived from police [investigatory] reports rather than the reportsthemselves."
The ruling came after The Sacramento Bee filed a lawsuitagainst UC Davis in January for access to 13 specific universitypolice reports related to crimes at a Sacramento medical centerafter its public-record act request for the reports was deniedin December.
Jones also said disclosure of information is limited to "currentinformation and records … which pertain to contemporaneous policeactivity," not matters that are "no longer active."
In addition, Jones ruled that the state Higher Education Act,which requires reports of criminal activity on campus be availableto the media, only applies to the University of California systemif "the Regents of the University of California, by appropriateresolution, make that provision applicable [to the UC system.]"
Security on Campus, a watchdog organization that advocatesdisclosure of campus crime information, has already begun a letter-writingcampaign to California Gov. Gray Davis. The letter from Securityon Campus asks Davis to "encourage the UC Regents to adoptthe needed resolutions to implement these important laws."
The Bee has not yet decided if it will appeal; it hastwenty days to do so.
For More Information:
The decision in the case is available at: http://campussafety.org/publicpolicy/courts/sacbee/ruling.html
Other documents from the case are available on Security onCampus’ Web site at: http://www.campusesafety.org/publicpolicy/courts/sacbee/index.html
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Newspapersues university for access to police (1/23/01)
The decision in the case is available at: http://campussafety.org/publicpolicy/courts/sacbee/ruling.html
Other documents from the case are available on Security onCampus’ Web site at: http://www.campusesafety.org/publicpolicy/courts/sacbee/index.html
Previous Stories: