Towson University now releases its police reports

Towson University reversed a recent decision to redact a student’s identity from a campus police report after The Baltimore Sun informed it that that student privacy rights don’t extend to college police.

University police officials cited federal law last month in redacting from a police report the name of a student charged with assaulting another student who was wearing a Donald Trump campaign hat.

They cited the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, FERPA, which affords a certain amount of privacy for students’ educational records.

For students younger than 18, FERPA spells out how parents can access a child’s records. For students 18 and older and those attending postsecondary institutions, the law reserves the rights to records to the students.

But a FERPA provision exempts college police from rules banning identification of students. Specifically, police reports and other documents created by college police departments do not qualify as educational records.

The Baltimore Sun advised Towson University of this provision and requested the full police report, which Towson officials released Friday.

Barbara English, the university’s associate general counsel, said in a letter to The Sun: “I agree that the redactions of the names of the parties were made in error.”

According to the report, the Nov. 1 incident took place near the Glen Garage on campus. The report says the victim alleges that Aeesha Deen Kamara, 21, of Parkville noticed his Trump bumper sticker and “Make America Great Again” hat and began yelling and cursing at him.

When he began to record the incident on his cellphone, Kamara hit him and grabbed the phone, he said.

According to the report, Kamara told police the male student started yelling and cursing at her. She acknowledged taking his phone but said she only hit his hat. She was charged with second-degree assault and theft of less than $1,000, and is scheduled for trial Dec. 13.