Northeastern Law’s Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy (PHRGE) recently released a new report, Accessing Municipal Police Policies in Massachusetts Using Public Records Requests. Co-authored by Andra Lehotay de León ’23, Nora Doherty ’24, Julia Tempesta ’24 and Elizabeth Ennen ’08, director of the Center for Global Law and Justice, which includes PHRGE, the report provides guidance on obtaining policy documents from Massachusetts police departments. The goal of the report is to share the lessons PHRGE learned while collecting municipal police policies on the role of local police in immigration enforcement.

“Public access to Massachusetts police policies is important for advocates working on a wide range of human rights issues,” said Ennen. “Our experience suggests that while public records requests are an effective means of accessing these police policies, the steps involved can be challenging. Our hope is that this report will facilitate advocacy on issues such as immigrants’ rights and racial justice.”