California state statutes and a series of court cases have required campus security and police departments to release information about incidents occurring on campus to the media and the general public. Despite the law and case decisions, recent studies reveal campus police and security officials are still reluctant to release information to the media because of the interest of the security/police officials to protect the privacy of campus students and employees versus the right of the public, including the media, to have access to incidents occuring on campus. The courts and the Department of Education have clearly identified the difference between "education" records and "law enforcement" records. The Federal "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act" (FERPA) prevents release of a student's educational record beyond "directory" information. Criminal investigation and incident reports do not apply under this law. This paper reviews the laws and court decisions regarding release of crime information to the media. A general overview of California law regarding release of campus information the media is as follows: (1) law enforcement shall release general information to the media, including time, nature, and factual circumstances of incident, name and age of the victim, and a description of the arrest; (2) law enforcement shall not release information that would endanger the safety of the investigation, victim or witness information, information relating to juveniles, and identity of persons reporting child abuse; and (3) law enforcement may release victim information with the victim's permission, and the public safety officer under investigation with the officer's permission. (YKH)