WSU Professor, Police Feuding Journalism Class Assignment Leads To Lawsuit, Questions About Open Records

It started, innocently enough, as homework.

But a routine assignment for a Washington State University journalism class has resulted in a professor feuding with the city police chief, an internal police investigation and a lawsuit.

“Pullman police are already looked at negatively by most students, and after my visit, I can understand why,” said Amber Ternan, who said she was treated rudely when she asked to see police records for her assignment.

Ternan and 22 other students in David Demers’ Beginning Reporting class were directed in September to visit the Pullman Police Department, read the daily log and use other department records to write a basic crime story.

But students were told the records would not be available for five days.

When they did get the records, the department withheld information on 31 incidents in the first week of October.

Demers, a former reporter who came to WSU last year from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, said he has given a similar assignment to hundreds of students before.

“They literally never encountered any problem like this,” he said.

By the same token, Police Chief Ted Weatherly said he has had few problems with previous reporting classes.

“The success we have enjoyed to date has been because the students, instructors and our personnel have been willing to meet and work for solutions to problems,” he said in a letter to City Council members after Demers complained to them.

Weatherly criticized Demers for refusing to meet with him over the records dispute. The professor’s approach is “not reflective of someone who is seeking to solve a problem,” the chief said.

Demers said he will not meet with Weatherly until he apologizes for the way his officers treated his students.

Ternan said a desk clerk became “rude and unprofessional” with her after the student asked to see police reports; when the student mentioned that WSU police released reports, the officer said, “Well, that’s their ass, not ours.”

The mere mention of Demers’ name or his class, Journalism 305, to Pullman officers was enough to set them off, judging from several student memos.

Angie Frederickson said she barely had finished mentioning the class when a desk officer “threw the logbook down in front of me, glared and left the room. I tried repeatedly to ask her questions about obtaining incident reports and she did not respond.”

Another student reported being asked for her Social Security number before getting to look at records.

Weatherly, after reviewing the students’ complaints, determined there were six instances of possible misconduct or inappropriate behavior. He has asked Sgt. Duane Moore to investigate.

Last week, Demers filed a lawsuit in Whitman County Superior Court accusing the Pullman Police Department of withholding information on incidents such as drunken driving, automobile accidents, thefts and an unattended death.

The police claim most of those cases are under investigation and, therefore, the records are not considered open under state law.

“I think we’ve done everything we’re required to under the law,” said Tom Kingen, acting city attorney. “I don’t know what the beef is.”

Weatherly couldn’t be reached for comment.

Demers said police can withhold information that might jeopardize an investigation but otherwise must give details, such as what happened during a crime, to whom and whether someone was arrested.

“It’s a fundamental thing in a political democracy that that kind of thing is public data,” he said.

Meanwhile, Demers’ students have cobbled together stories on some vehicle prowls and have moved on, albeit a bit rattled over the Police Department’s internal investigation.

“A lot of them are scared of police after this incident,” said Demers. “They sure have learned a lot, though.”

, DataTimes