Background

In December 2002, Officer Barry Flanders was an employee of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Police Department. Following a series of public records requests and FOIA requests by the ACLU of Massachusetts, it was revealed that Flanders works full time for the University of Massachusetts Police Department and as their liaison to the Joint Terrorism Task Force affiliated with the FBI’s Springfield office.

Flanders’ presence on campus as a liaison to the Bureau created controversy, as people began to question the purpose of the FBI on campus grounds, and whether it could hinder academic freedom.