Law requires Mass. campus police release all crime reports

Advocates of a new Massachusetts state campus security law said they think the legislation will prevent university police from getting away with murder -- by failing to report it. The legislation, which was signed into law earlier this month, requires campus police departments in Massachusetts to disclose all reported crimes to the general public -- including student newspapers -- on a daily basis. The law requires the police to document all reported crimes, the response, any arrested persons and their addresses in layman's language and to make this log available to the public on a daily basis -- in particular student journalists and students applying to the university. "There has been a crime cover-up across the country by university administrators, especially rape," said Security on Campus spokesperson John Doherty. "This legislation serves to correct that in Massachussetts." Security on Campus is a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting awareness of campus crime. The legislation was authored by former senior editor of The Harvard Crimson Josh Gerstein after discovering that Harvard Police did not report numerous crimes. "The legislation attacks an obvious double standard," Gerstein said. "It doesn't make sense that someone could get attacked in Harvard Square and have it reported to Cambridge Police -- available to the public -- and about 100 yards away if you're attacked in [Harvard] Yard the campus police would have no public record of it." Doherty said that the system is faulted by administrators who are overly concerned with public relations and therefore create "a sanctuary for crime" by covering up reports. "If the university police act like city police, well then if a duck acts like a duck -- it's a duck -- they should both disclose [crime information]," Doherty said. The University has relied on various federal and state laws including the Buckley ammendment to monitor what crime information is made available to the general public. Police Commissioner John Kuprevich said this week that the University was reviewing the Massachusetts law, but both the SOC spokesperson and the commissioner doubted that any similar legislation is pending in the state of Pennsylvania. "We feel an obligation to inform the public," Kuprevich said. "But, we must remember to protect individuality -- especially the victim."

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