Photo: Jeffrey Allred Deseret News
PROVO — Brigham Young University has responded to a notice from the Utah Department of Public Safety seeking to decertify its police department.
The 29-page response says “D-P-S acted outside its authority and violated BYU’s rights in numerous ways.”
The university also published a question-and-answer explanation of its response on its news website.
Last month, DPS accused the BYU police of failing to investigate police misconduct as well as failing to provide public records when requested.
BYU says its internal investigation showed Lieutenant Aaron Rhoades violated university policy. He has since retired and given up his state peace officer certification.
It also says BYU has complied with a DPS subpoena, but it will not provide records that are protected by law or that are related to the university’s private, internal operations.
The Utah legislature passed a law in its general session defining which records B-Y-U would be required to make public in the future.