The secret police?

A gray area exists as to whether open records law should be applied to private university law enforcement. A private university may have its own police department with the same arrest powers as any public police department, but in many states it’s at the discretion of the department to release crime records when requests are made. A private university police department may respond to an open records request with the response that as a private institution, it is not governed by state open-records law.

SUNSHINE WEEK: Courts weigh transparency, student privacy

In the past year, courts across the country have tried tointerpret the meaning of the federal student privacy law, known as FERPA.Several recent rulings suggest the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Actdoes not protect the vast array of information about students that someuniversities have claimed.