Bill would give private universities protection

From Dayton Daily News Private universities are pushing for protections from lawsuits stemming from a requirement that they now make records from their police forces available to the public.

State Rep. Kirk Schuring, R-Canton, has submitted a bill that would give private institutions such as the University of Dayton and Wittenberg University the same legal protections afforded to public colleges and universities.

“If you’re doing what the law requires you to do, there should be some protection for those who claim they were defamed or libeled,” Schuring said this week.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled last year that if private police departments operate with all of the powers of regular police — replete with badge, gun and arrest powers — they need to make incident, arrest and investigative reports available to the public.

Prior to that, police departments such as UD’s would release only scant details of reported crimes and full details only when someone was charged in court.

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