Spring Break
Online police blotter to come down after 18 months
Christopher Duray
Issue date: 3/31/09 Section: News
UConn 's official student newspaper has implemented a new policy requiring the online copy of the weekly police blotters be removed 18 months after the start of the semester in which they were posted. Nearly 150 blotters - spanning the time period from 2003, the first year in which the blotter was online, through the end of the spring 2007 semester - have already been removed.
For example: The police blotters dating through the end of the 2007 fall semester will be taken offline over the summer, before the start of the fall 2009 semester.
The print version of the blotters will remain in The Daily Campus archives, and digital copies will be retained for Daily Campus employee use.
According to Managing Editor Aly Shea, the change was prompted by letters to the paper from people who claimed they were having trouble getting jobs because old police blotters would appear when a potential employer would do an Internet search on that person's name. Many of the records would be among Google's top search results.
Eventually, the paper's Student Publication Board (SPB), which consists of its executive officers, section editors and the business department, agreed that it was improper to hold a mistake made in college over someone's head for the rest of his or her life.
"A lot of these arrests are first-time offenses, and many of them are eventually dismissed in court," Shea said.
Shea went on to say that in these cases where charges are dismissed, keeping the police blotter up would be misleading, and it would be too hard to track each case individually.
"We simply don't have the manpower to go back and update [every police blotter since 2003 to reflect court decisions]," she said.
Editor in Chief Freesia Singngam supported the move and said she gets two or three letters protesting the police blotter every week.
"If it's a big crime, then we will have written a news article about it, and that will remain in the [Internet] archives," said Singngam. "Most of these cases are less of a public concern."
For example: The police blotters dating through the end of the 2007 fall semester will be taken offline over the summer, before the start of the fall 2009 semester.
The print version of the blotters will remain in The Daily Campus archives, and digital copies will be retained for Daily Campus employee use.
According to Managing Editor Aly Shea, the change was prompted by letters to the paper from people who claimed they were having trouble getting jobs because old police blotters would appear when a potential employer would do an Internet search on that person's name. Many of the records would be among Google's top search results.
Eventually, the paper's Student Publication Board (SPB), which consists of its executive officers, section editors and the business department, agreed that it was improper to hold a mistake made in college over someone's head for the rest of his or her life.
"A lot of these arrests are first-time offenses, and many of them are eventually dismissed in court," Shea said.
Shea went on to say that in these cases where charges are dismissed, keeping the police blotter up would be misleading, and it would be too hard to track each case individually.
"We simply don't have the manpower to go back and update [every police blotter since 2003 to reflect court decisions]," she said.
Editor in Chief Freesia Singngam supported the move and said she gets two or three letters protesting the police blotter every week.
"If it's a big crime, then we will have written a news article about it, and that will remain in the [Internet] archives," said Singngam. "Most of these cases are less of a public concern."
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
Bill
posted 3/31/09 @ 10:40 AM EST
Oh Thank GOD! I got in trouble for underage possession of a beer my freshman yr, when I was only 17. It was dismissed and erased everywhere except the online police blotter. (Continued…)
John Q
posted 3/31/09 @ 1:06 PM EST
Is anyone else wondering who her roommate was that thought they could beat the system?
Michael
posted 3/31/09 @ 2:04 PM EST
As posted on The Uconn Blog:
"Alla Nebrat, 21, of Cheshire, was arrested at 4:00 p.m. at UConn police headquarters and charged with sixth degree larceny. (Continued…)
Theo the Leo
posted 3/31/09 @ 6:55 PM EST
My new wesite "UCONNBlotter.com" will fix this error in judgement. I am copying the police blotter every month, for anyone to through. Just because it is not on the official website, doesn't mean it is gone forever. (Continued…)
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