Yale won't challege ruling making campus police records public

By A. Matthew Deal, SPLC staff writer

New Haven, Conn. — Yale University will not appeal a state agency decision that makes the university's police department a public body and subject to the state's open records laws, Yale announced in a press release today.

"The University will abide by the FOI Commission's decision requiring disclosure of certain documents related to Yale Police Department officers; we are doing so because Yale recognizes the unique and public law enforcement role that its officers play in the City of New Haven," the statement said.

The commission's ruling came in response to an incident that occurred in 2007 in which a teenager was arrested and charged with breach of peace for riding his bicycle on a public sidewalk. Janet Perrotti, a New Haven public defender, suspected the officers of misconduct and filed a request under the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act for the personnel records of the two officers involved in the arrest.

Yale denied Perrotti's request, arguing that its police department was a private entity and not subject to state open record law. Perrotti appealed the decision to the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission, the state agency that resolves disputes over open records requests.

The FOI Commission decided in favor of Perrotti Feb. 13, concluding that the Yale police department was a public agency for several reasons, including Yale police's "exercise of full police powers throughout the City of New Haven."

"As Yale Daily News has been saying, it has been the right move both morally and ethically," said Andrew Mangino, editor in chief of Yale Daily News, the student newspaper at the school.

Mangino said that the paper has been able to get information, such as arrest records, from Yale's police department with few problems. But he said the paper definitely will take advantage of expanded access to Yale police records.

"I'm pleasantly surprised that Yale officials in dropping the appeal did not just say 'we are doing so because we can't win,' but 'we are doing so because we shouldn't,'" Mangino said.

"It is a key decision that speaks well of Yale administration and hopefully be a guide to other universities throughout the country."

This article was orginally published on the Student Press Law Center's Website, and is reprinted with permission.