Through a lawsuit filed today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island is contesting the Brown University police department’s position that it is not subject to the state’s Access to Public Records Act (APRA) and can keep its arrest reports secret from the public.
ACLU of RI cooperating attorney Fausto Anguilla filed the suit in R.I. Superior Court against Brown University’s Department of Public Safety (BDPS) on behalf of two journalists after BDPS refused to provide them reports of arrests made by BDPS officers. The suit argues that BDPS, with state-authorized police powers, clearly fits within APRA’s definition of an “agency” covered by that law.
In 2022, Noble Brigham, who was then a Brown Daily Herald reporter, was investigating the story of a man who had been charged multiple times by BDPS with trespassing and breaking and entering on the Brown campus. Brigham submitted an Access to Public Records Act (APRA) request for the arrest reports, which was initially ignored by BDPS. When the Department ultimately did respond, it was to assert that APRA didn’t apply because Brown is a private university and BDPS was not subject to that law.
In 2023, Motif Magazine reporter Michael Bilow was reporting on 41 Brown University students who were arrested by BDPS officers for trespassing after protesting university investment practices and refusing to leave a university building after hours. When Bilow filed an APRA request for the arrest reports, BDPS ignored the request just as it had with Brigham. Both Bilow and Brigham independently filed complaints with the Attorney General, who has the authority to investigate APRA violations. It was not until January of this year that that office issued an opinion on the complaints and took BDPS’s side that it was not subject to APRA, leading to today’s lawsuit.
Noting that APRA explicitly applies to private agencies that are “acting on behalf of and/or in place of any public agency,” the suit claims that BDPS clearly meets that definition. The suit notes that “BDPS police officers are sworn law enforcement officers and are explicitly vested with the same powers and authority that are vested in a state or municipal police officer”; they are appointed by the state police superintendent; they are explicitly designated by state law as “peace officers” with the power to arrest people; and, in Brown’s own words on its website, they “have police jurisdiction on campus and upon the streets and highways adjacent to the campus.”
In short, the suit states: “By engaging in one of the most fundamental functions of government – the enforcement of criminal laws and exercising the power to search and seize individuals – BDPS is acting on behalf of and/or in place of a government agency or public body.”
The lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgment determining that BDPS is a public body within the meaning of APRA and therefore must comply with APRA requests for arrest records and other publicly available law enforcement documents. The suit also requests a permanent injunction requiring BDPS to provide the records requested by the plaintiffs.
Plaintiff Bilow said today: “Experience has proven that preventing police abuses depends on full transparency under the law, and it is a civic responsibility of news reporting to keep the public aware and informed about what is done in their name. As a journalist, I am grateful for the help of the ACLU in furthering that mission.”
Plaintiff Brigham added: “Access to police reports is a basic public right. The public should be able to understand why police have arrested someone, and Brown’s stance that its nonprofit status exempts them from the state law every municipal Rhode Island police department follows is troubling.”
ACLU cooperating attorney Anguilla remarked: “The purpose of this action is simple. Every city and town police department in Rhode Island must provide arrest reports under APRA. Brown’s police should not be an exception.”
Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU of RI, stated: “It is shocking that a police department would claim that it can keep secret its records relating to the arrests of individuals. This lawsuit involves fundamental matters of public transparency and accountability.”
A copy of the complaint can be found here.
