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BLOG: OPD police records to be released not a moment too soon

"The stories you read in this paper will never been the same," reads the headline of an editorial published in a Sept. 2012 issue of the Tan and Cardinal. This headline would foreshadow a three-years dispute between Otterbein360 and the former Tan and cardinal and the Otterbein Police Department.

In 2011, the Otterbein Security Department, which formerly had worked closely with the Westerville Police Department, became a fully commissioned police department, complete with the authority to carry weapons and make arrests on students and non-students alike. Sometime after this transition, the newly minted Otterbein Police Department (OPD) refused requests by the Tan and Cardinal for the release of detailed reports of incidents such as those released by municipal police departments.

The reports were reduced to a one or two sentence summary, which later became more scant as the years went on. This drastically impacted the Tan and Cardinal's weekly crime report and subsequently the Otterbein student's knowledge of what their fully authorized police force was doing.

OPD and Otterbein's Administration said this was due to their interpretation of a 2006 court case; in their opinion, Otterbein is not subject to Ohio Sunshine (open records) Laws because they are a private and not a public entity.

“This is primarily law, and our interpretation and the administration’s interpretation of the [public records] law,” Larry Banaszak, chief of OPD, said to the Tan and Cardinal.

Editors of The Tan and Cardinal newspaper, which would later become Otterbein360, said in the September 2012 editorial that they did not understand the application of the case to OPD. They vehemently opposed the idea that the records were being withheld to protect victims, given that the newspaper and its successor alike did not and does not release names if charges were not filed and would never release names in the case of sexual assault. The Tan and Cardinal and O360 would continue to oppose the policy over the next few years through negotiations, all of which failed. 

Otterbein360 staff, then including Schiffbauer felt that they were left with no other way to gain access to the police records and therefore came to the conclusion that a suit must be filed.

According to OPD's 2014 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, which only discloses the number of crimes reported by OPD, one robbery, one motor vehicle theft, two acts of arson, 28 burglaries and nine forcible sex offenses were reported to OPD between 2011 and 2013. At the time of the report's publication, the only way for an Otterbein student to know what occurred in each of these cases was through the Rave Alert system, which was only used by OPD in the event of a perceived emergency.

In February 2014, Anna Schiffbauer, then-news-editor of Otterbein360, filed a case with the financial aid of the Society of Professional Journalists against Banaszak and Bob Gatti, vice president and dean of student affairs. 

The case gained traction throughout the year as Ohio's Attorney General, Mike DeWine, filed an amicus brief in support of Schiffbauer's case.

Attorneys representing Otterbein in the case claimed that they had relied "to their detriment" on advice given at training program designed to educate law enforcement personnel on Ohio's Sunshine Laws provided by the Attorney General's Office. The Attorney General's Office responded by saying advice given at those sessions are not intended to be legal advice. Otterbein was later denied their motion to dismiss the lawsuit. 

On May 21, 2015, a day we hope will be remembered as a landmark day for transparency, The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in favor of Schiffbauer in a 4-3 decision.

As a result, Otterbein was compelled to release the records.

In the coming weeks, we will be looking through these records as they become available. Chief Banaszak's office has already begun preparing these documents for release.

In a statement to the Columbus Dispatch, Jenny Hill, Otterbein's director of Marketing and Communications, said, "We believe the split decision clearly establishes a new precedent related to private university police departments throughout Ohio,"

Over the course of this process, it was easy for many of us to adopt an "us vs. them" mentality against the administrators that upheld the policy. 

At the same time, we realize that this mentality is outright wrong. We, as university students looking to gain experience from a student newspaper, happened to be on the side that won.

The administration should not be suspected of having any ill-will toward the students in this matter. As stated in the above Tan and Cardinal editorial: 

"By all means, no one on this staff thinks Otterbein cooked up a plan to have a police force to avoid the Ohio Public Records Act."

The administration took a stance that they apparently believed would help victims on their college campus. While we believe this belief is not based on fact, their dedication [and will to defend it in a costly court battle] is commendable. 

That said, this ruling is, to us, a long-fought, well-fought, long-awaited and well-deserved victory.  

Anna Schiffbauer said "There is going to be oversight and transparency and that's a good thing in my book,"

With the aid of this decision, we will continue the reporting started by the Tan and Cardinal and Otterbein360 staff members who came before us.  

The stories you read on this website will continue to be the same. 


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