A new law that keeps police logs sealed in domestic violence cases has the strong backing of Island police and social service leaders who work as victim advocates. But first amendment attorneys and free speech advocates worry that the law poses a threat to the public’s right to know by allowing police logs to be kept out of the public eye in some circumstances.

The shield provision for police reports is included as part of a larger domestic violence bill that creates tougher penalties for repeat offenders, among other things. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Deval Patrick in early August.

Police have long kept information about alleged rape and sexual assaults shielded from the public eye. The new law extends the shield to include cases of domestic violence.

Island police departments are already complying with the law, taking care to withhold domestic incidents from their daily police logs and to restrict the release of police reports.

Police reports are still available to the public once they are filed with the district court, often to support probable cause soon after arrest. But in domestic violence cases which don’t lead to court, the police logs will be kept confidential.

Vineyard police interviewed this week said they think the law was well conceived.

“I think it protects the victims, first and foremost, from undue scrutiny,” said Lieut. Eerik Meisner with the Tisbury police department.

Sgt. Craig Edwards of Edgartown agreed. He said if victims know all the information will be kept confidential, they will be more likely to report the incident.

“Everybody’s worry is that it’s going to be public, it’s going to be in the newspaper, and everybody is going to know,” Sergeant Edwards said.

The new law is popular with victims

advocates, who say it increases support for victims and enhances accountability on the side of the alleged defendant.

Included in the law is a six-hour “cooling off” period after an arrest, when a victim can take necessary safety precautions before the possibility of bail for the defendant.

“It means that the victim will not have to worry if the alleged aggressor will get out in 45 minutes,” said Jennifer Neary, program director at Connect to End Violence, a program at Martha’s Vineyard Community Services that provides free and confidential counseling to victims of domestic and sexual violence and their families.

There is also a provision in the law that grants victims unpaid leave from their job, and another that mandates more training for law enforcement and court personnel.

The law also establishes two new crimes: strangulation and suffocation will now be a felony offenses, and cases of domestic assault and battery will be differentiated from other assault and battery cases.

But sections of the law that restrict public records are among the most controversial and have garnered criticism statewide.

Robert J. Ambrogi, a media lawyer and executive director of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association, which represents the interests of area newspapers including the Vineyard Gazette, said the law threatens the public’s right to know about what is happening in their community.

“Our concern about it is that it’s a major blow to the public’s right to know,” Mr. Ambrogi said. “The public has not just a right to know but a strong interest in knowing about this kind of activity in their communities, so that they can ensure the safety of their children or families.”

He said the provision protects the perpetrator rather than the victim, and in some cases, can further endanger the victim.

Many newspapers already have their own policies on reporting in domestic violence cases and most do not report the names of victims.

But in some cases, alleged perpetrators may be people who hold positions of responsibility in the community.

“What if it is your police chief in town, what if it is an elected official, a teacher or somebody who holds a position of responsibility in your town?” Mr. Ambrogi said.

Oftentimes, incidents reported in a daily police log do not lead to an arrest or a court action, he said, but they represent valuable public records that increase the transparency of the police department.

“For a lot of newspapers, access to police logs is the bread and butter of how they operate,” he said. To his knowledge, Mr. Ambrogi said no other states have laws on their books which limit information to the extent of the recently passed shield law.

Some might redact the name of the victim or even the name of the aggressor, but this provision goes much further, he said.

“This wipes the incident off the record altogether,” he said. “We don’t want our police departments operating in secrecy when they don’t need to,” he added. Ms. Neary conceded that the provi

sion is in some ways a “double-edged sword,” protecting the victim from scrutiny while also extending that protection to the alleged aggressor.

“Domestic violence already has a stigma associated with it and secrecy can perpetuate that,” she said. It’s already a crime committed in private, she said, and increasing secrecy doesn’t allow the community or family to find out what goes on behind closed doors. At the same time, she said empowering the victim to make information known according to their comfort level puts control of the situation back in the survivor’s hands.

Since July 1, Connect To End Violence has seen 96 survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, up from 53 victims in the same period last year.

Ms. Neary said people feel more comfortable coming forward to seek help.

“Every day, we are receiving calls,” she said. “I don’t think it’s an increase in violence. I think the problem is ever-present.”

There are also local efforts to support victims more effectively. Island police departments recently won a grant for just under $20,000 a year to support the Island’s high risk team, a task force of law enforcement and victim advocates designed to respond to cases that involve the potential for lethality. Police will use an assessment checklist, which helps determine the risk involved in a case. “Statistically, they found that if there was strangulation involved or choking, there is a percentage of those that will result in death,” said Oak Bluffs police chief Erik Blake, who also has a prominent role as head of the Massachusetts Police Chiefs Association.

The high risk team is charged with increasing victim safety, but also offender accountability, said Ms. Neary, whose organization applied for the Violence Against Women Act STOP Grant in a collaboration with the Oak Bluffs police department.

The new law mandates that police provide information to alleged offenders about resources available to them. These include a local 40-hour batterers’ program offered through Family and Community Resources Inc.

Ms. Neary said overall, the law is an important step forward.

“It addresses victim needs, it’s offender focused, but there is also that education piece,” she said. “I think all of it together is a great move for our state and our community.”

Connect to End Violence operates a 24-hour help line at 508-696-7233. The service is free and confidential.