NCJ Number
173003
Journal
Campus Law Enforcement Journal Volume: 26 Issue: 4 Dated: July/August 1996 Pages: 2-14
Date Published
1996
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article presents the testimony of Douglas Tuttle, past president of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education, Training, and Life-Long Learning on June 6, 1996, regarding H.R. 2416, the Open Campus Police Logs Act of 1995.
Abstract
H.R. 2416 would amend Section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act to require postsecondary institutions to create and maintain daily chronological logs of all crimes against persons and property reported to their campus police or security departments, including the date, time, and location of such crimes and the names of and charges against any persons arrested for such crimes. These logs would not be required to include other personal identification (unless otherwise provided by law) or information related to the investigation of the crime and would be open to public inspection. Tuttle urges that implementation regulations clearly allow for an electronic format for maintaining such records. Further, he recommends that there be an exception to the public disclosure of crime-log information when its release is likely to jeopardize an ongoing criminal investigation or the safety of an individual, cause a suspect to flee or evade detection, or result in the destruction of evidence. Additionally, he suggests that the specificity of crime locations not be greater than the name of a building, since the inclusion of a room number might serve to identify a victim. Tuttle also offers suggestions regarding which offenses should be included in the daily crime log. Also included in this article is a letter to all campus presidents, deans of students, and security administrators from Assistant Secretary David Longanecker of the U.S. Department of Education regarding the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990. A list of witnesses before the subcommittee is provided.