The Commonwealth of Massachusetts In the Year Two Thousand and Five. [Act to Provide for the Public Inspection of Records Made or Received by Special State Police Officers at Educational Institutions and Hospitals, Mass. S. 1735, 184th Gen. Ct., 23 Mar. 2005.] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: SECTION 1. Section 63 of chapter 22C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting, at the end, the following new paragraph:- “All records, reports or other documentary materials or data made or received by any employee of a college, university, other educational institution or hospital so appointed as a special state police officer shall be public records kept and maintained in the custody of said institution, except as otherwise provided by law.” SECTION 2. Section 1 of chapter 66 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “necessary”, in line 9, the following words:- “He shall see that the records of special state police officers appointed to colleges, universities, other educational institutions or hospitals are kept in the custody and condition required by the laws relating to such employees of such institutions.” SECTION 3. Subsection (a) of section 10 of chapter 66 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the words “as defined in clause 26 of section 7 of chapter 4” in line 2, the following words:- “or section 63 of chapter 22C”. SECTION 4. Said Subsection (a) of section 10 of chapter 66 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the words “the Massachusetts bay transportation authority police”, in line 11, the following words:- “,a college, university, other educational institution or hospital employing one or more special state police officers,” ___________________________________________________ [General Laws with the inclusion of the requested amendments]: General Laws of Massachusetts Sec. 63: Employees of colleges, universities, other educational institutions and hospitals; appointment as special officers Section 63. The colonel may, upon such reasonable terms and conditions as may be prescribed by him, at the request of an officer of a college, university, other educational institution or [licensed] hospital, … appoint employees of such college, university, other educational institution or hospital as special state police officers. Such special state police officers shall serve for three years, subject to removal by the colonel, and they shall have the same power to make arrests as regular police officers for any criminal offense committed in or upon lands or structures owned, used or occupied by such college, university, or other institution or hospital. Title X. Public Records: Sec. 1: Supervision of public records; powers and duties Section 1. The supervisor of public records … shall take necessary measures to put the records of the commonwealth, counties, cities or towns in the custody and condition required by law and to secure their preservation.… He shall see that the records of special state police officers appointed to colleges, universities, other educational institutions or hospitals are kept in the custody and condition required by the laws relating to such employees of such institutions. The supervisor of [public] records shall adopt regulations pursuant to the provisions of chapter thirty A [State Administrative Procedure] to implement the provisions of this chapter. Sec. 10: Public inspection and copies of records; presumption; exceptions Section 10. (a) Every person having custody of any public record, as defined in clause Twenty-sixth [Public Records] of section seven [Definitions of Statutory Terms] of chapter four [Statutes] or section 63 [Employees of Colleges, Universities, Other Educational Institutions and Hospitals] of chapter 22C [Department of State Police], shall, at reasonable times and without unreasonable delay, permit it … to be inspected and examined by any person, under his supervision, and shall furnish one copy thereof upon payment of a reasonable fee. Every person for whom a search of public records is made shall … pay the actual expense of such search. The following fees shall apply to any public record in the custody of the state police, the Massachusetts bay transportation authority police, a college, university, other educational institution or hospital employing one or more special state police officers, or any municipal police department or fire department:… for preparing and mailing crime, incident or miscellaneous reports, one dollar per page; for furnishing any public record, in hand, to a person requesting such records, fifty cents per page. Problems with campus crime reporting The first two armed robberies on Banks Street (near Harvard’s Mather House and Peabody Terrace residences) during the spring 2005 term occurred next to the university’s designated safety pathways. The third occurred directly on the university’s property.
The HUPD immediately issued a statement claiming that “this incident did not occur on Harvard University property.” Copies were then printed on Harvard Real Estate Services letterhead and attached to the front doors of the Harvard-owned buildings in the area—including the victim’s residence. The HUPD’s statement continues, “Additionally, the Cambridge Police Department reports that there were two other armed robberies early this afternoon.… The second one occurred in Cambridgeport.” The Cambridge Police Department disagrees; no violent offenses of any kind were reported as having occurred in Cambridgeport that day. Why did the HUPD evidently fabricate the Cambridgeport incident? Was it seeking to divert attention from the violent assault that had just taken place on Harvard University property? Once the Private Police Public Records bill is enacted, a university’s incident reports (after deletion of any “highly personal information”) will be public records accessible to the media. University police departments, like municipal police departments, will need to be straightforward about acknowledging such troubling incidents and implementing appropriate protective measures. For instance, Harvard might reasonably elect to rehire the union security guards who had previously patrolled many of the areas where students were attacked during the 2004-05 academic year. [And now summer 2005—see Community Advisories/Crime Alerts, incident of July 21.] 8 Aug. 2005. STALCOMMPOL. Ed. J. Herms. |
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