No U. stance yet on on bill to open police files

The University has not decided whether it will support a state Senate bill requiring campus police departments to open their crime records to the public, Assistant Vice President for Commonwealth Relations James Shada said Wednesday. In addition, the executive director of the Senate Education Committee said she is not sure how quickly the bill will progress through the committee. "It's a little early for us to take a position," said Shada, who lobbies in Harrisburg on the University's behalf. State Sen. Richard Tilghman (R-Bryn Mawr) and several other senators introduced a bill last Monday requiring colleges and universities to prepare a daily log of campus crime and to open the log and related records to the public. Shada said he is awaiting the opinions from the General Counsel and University Police about the bill. He added that his office is following the same procedure as it did when a bill was introduced requiring colleges and universities to provide annual statistics on campus crime. The bill was passed in 1987. Helen Cafrey, executive director of the Senate Education Committee, said Wednesday she did not know when the bill would leave the committee. She said that the committee would research how colleges and universities across the state inform the public about campus crime and that they would speak to Tilghman about what likely effects the legislation would have. Cafrey said she is not sure whether the committee will hold a public hearing on the bill, saying "this seems like a straightforward bill." Rather, she said, a staff member would write a "good piece of analysis" on the bill which would be circulated to members of the Education Committee.

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