GALVESTON — University of Texas Medical Branch campus police violated policy in denying a former journalist the right to file a complaint against an officer, a spokeswoman for the system said.
Gordon Haire, who worked from 1975 to 1978 for The Daily News, said he has since received a verbal apology, stemming from a July 7 incident outside the Galveston National Laboratory.
A bus dropped Haire, 66, off at the hospital in Galveston about an hour early for his doctor’s appointment, and as he sat at a covered table, he took photos of a textured sidewalk outside a building housing the studies of highly infectious diseases.
Haire contends a campus police officer approached him about 7 a.m. and said it was illegal to photograph the laboratory. Marsha Canright, a campus spokeswoman, denied the officer said that.
“The National Institutes of Health has asked us to discourage photography of this particular facility because agents are kept there,” Canright said. “It’s not the same as prohibiting photographs there.”
The medical branch has a policy that requires anyone photographing the lab to first notify media relations for approval.
“As a matter of course, photos both external and internal of the (lab) are strictly prohibited,” the policy states.
In certain cases, however, requests for photos from outside parties will be considered and approved by the lab’s director of communications, the policy states.
The state-owned campus is public property and Canright could provide no law that supports the policy. The policy is designed to protect patient confidentiality, Canright said.
Haire, who said police had no right to question him or ask for identification, returned to campus July 8 to try to file a complaint but said an officer denied him his right, because he had no photo identification.
“The only ID I have is my Medicare card,” Haire said. “I lost my driver’s license and debit card. I looked up their policy, and there’s no mention of identification.”
Police also didn’t instruct him about how to file a complaint, Haire said.
Campus Police Chief Charles Brown declined to be interviewed for this story, saying through a spokesman it would be improper because he is still reviewing the matter.
Haire said the University of Texas System director of police called Brown and asked Brown to accept the complaint. Brown then called Haire on Friday to offer an apology. Haire made an appointment with Brown for today to file a complaint.
“I’d be happy with a written apology and to have them read something on photographers’ rights,” Haire said.
Haire, a retired newspaper reporter, said he knows his rights.
“I am not easily intimidated,” Haire said. “I’m not easily bluffed. What happens to people without my knowledge and experience who are easily intimidated and easily bluffed by authority figures?”
