By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Princeton University will fight local website Planet Princeton in Superior Court to block the disclosure of two documents detailing the response protocols for crimes and incidents that local police and university security handle.
The university last week intervened in the lawsuit that website founder Krystal Knapp brought in March, originally against the town and Municipal Clerk Linda McDermott, in response to the town denying her government records’ request for the information in February.
Nassau Hall took the step after the town said it would release the documents, with the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office also signing off on release of the documents. The original basis the town gave for denying Ms. Knapp’s request was that releasing the information would disclose security measures, according to her lawsuit.
In particular, the university does not want to release a map outlining which agency responds to particular locations and also an index identifying which agency has primary responsibility over which type of incident.
A hearing is scheduled June 2 before Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson, sitting in Trenton.
‘The university has asked to intervene in the case about the memorandum of understanding. Until the judge decides on our request, we have nothing further to add,” said university spokesman Dan Day.
Ms. Knapp has received some of the information that she wanted, including the original operating agreement between the police and university Department of Public Safety, from May 2013, and three subsequent “iterations” of the agreement, her lawyer Walter M. Leurs said Monday.
“I felt from the beginning that we should release this information,” Councilwoman Jo S. Butler said Monday.
Police chief Nicholas K. Sutter was not available for comment Monday. But town administrator Marc D. Dashield said Monday that the chief supports releasing the information.
A spokeswoman for the Prosecutor’s Office could not be reached for comment Monday.
The Princeton Council discussed the Knapp lawsuit on April 25 in closed session, with Mayor Liz Lempert and Councilwoman Heather H. Howard recusing themselves because of their conflicts of interest with Nassau Hall. Mayor Lempert’s husband is a tenured professor, while Ms. Howard is a university employee.
Two days after that meeting, on April 27, the town, through one of its attorneys, indicated to Judge Jacobson during a conference call with lawyers that it would turn over the agreements. Mr. Leurs said he thought the documents are public records and should be disclosed. People in the community should know what agency has jurisdiction when they are stopped for an offense, he said.
“There’s a strong public interest,” said Mr. Leurs.
