Campus police or university police in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada are often sworn police officers employed by a college or university to protect the campus and surrounding areas and the people who live, work, and visit it.
Canada
- McMaster University Security Service
- University of Alberta Protective Services
- University of Toronto Campus Community Police Service
United Kingdom
In the UK, universities do not have a specific police force that responds to crime on university campuses, with the exception of Cambridge University Constabulary and, until 2003, Oxford University Police. Instead most universities have a police liaison officer seconded from the area's police service. The liaison officer can provide crime prevention and recruitment information, patrol of campus site and create links with community as part of the national Community Policing Strategy. It is also known for officers to take lectures in policing for students studying law, police studies etc. This allows students to gain first hand knowledge on policing and real life scenarios that the force faces.
Most universities will have a security team responsible for patrolling the campuses.
United States
Some college campus public safety departments are actual police departments and able to perform all the duties of sworn police officers including make arrests, issue citations, etc. These departments operate either as individual police departments on campus in cooperation with local law enforcement, or as a part of the local police force (city or state). These officers go through the exact same training (typically 6 months full-time or more) as local police officers do, but they typically only operate within the campus property. They could, in theory, assist local law enforcement when necessary if that agreement exists between the two departments.
If it is not an actual police department, officers cannot perform the same functions as sworn police officers such as arrest perpetrators or issue citations. Some college security departments have the equivalent of armed security officers that are legally allowed to carry a firearm under that state's individual licensing requirements. For example, Pennsylvania has Act 235 Lethal Weapons Certification that allows public safety officers or private security guards to carry firearms for their employment - including on college campuses. Other states have similar certifications and training requirements. Non-police officer certifications do not give them the right to perform police-specific duties, but does allow for additional security that could be essential should an active shooter or terrorist act come to fruition on a college or university campus. College campus safety officer defensive tactics should be taught to all officers who are hired to protect students on campus, regardless of if they are able to carry a firearm or not.
Many university police officers are commissioned through their state Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) after completing established training and pre-licensure preparation. This is usually equivalent to that of a municipal or state police officer. They routinely attend the same police academy as local or state police officers.
Many campus public safety departments operate some of the same units as municipal agencies such as detective units, special response teams (SWAT or SRT), canine units, bicycle patrol units, motorcycle patrol units, and community policing units. In some cases, campus police agencies are better equipped and staffed than municipal and county agencies in their area due to the significant amount of funding available in a college environment.
The campus police in some state-owned schools may have statewide authority and jurisdiction similar to that afforded to state police. However, this will vary state-by-state.
Hawaii, Idaho, and New Hampshire are the only states in the US to not have a statutory provision for the commissioning of sworn campus police officers. They were joined by Oregon until 2009, when that state revised its system of Campus law enforcement in Oregon.
in the 2004-05 school year, 74% of college campuses had sworn officers with the power to arrest, and 90% of these departments were armed
92% of campus police departments are responsible for handling their own dispatching, which means that they are completely self-sufficient agencies. They do not rely on the city police around them to take on their responsibilities.
Also, some public school districts maintain their own police i.e. Los Angeles School Police Department, Miami-Dade County Public Schools Police Department, and New York City Police Department School Safety Division just to name a few.
California
California State University Police Department
University of California Police Department
Colorado
Officers of the Colorado State University Police Department and the University of Colorado (Boulder) Police Department, University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) Police Department are commissioned officers of the state of Colorado, but also hold commissions through the cities where their universities are based (respectively Fort Collins and Larimer County for CSU; the City of Boulder for CU; Colorado Springs and El Paso County for UCCS).
Delaware
Both The University of Delaware Police and Delaware State University Police are fully accredited police agencies with full police powers, equipment and Council on Police Training (State Police Academy) Certification.
Louisiana
Campus police officers for public universities in Louisiana have full police powers on and near their campuses as well as while investigating campus crimes away from the campus grounds.
Michigan
Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety
Western Michigan University Department of Public Safety
Massachusetts
- Harvard University Police Department
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology Police Department
- Boston University Police Department
Minnesota
The University of Minnesota employs its own campus police, the University of Minnesota Police Department (UMPD). UMPD enforces law on all University property, and works closely with the Minneapolis Police Department to enforce the law in neighborhoods within close proximity to the University, such as Dinkytown. Additionally, UMPD employs a part-time student security force known as the Security Monitor Program, which provides security escorts around the campus area, patrols campus property, and works with UMPD to enforce University, Minneapolis, and Minnesota law around the campus area.
Missouri
- University of Missouri Police Department
- University of Missouri-St. Louis Police Department
New York
- New York State University Police
- City University of New York Public Safety Department
North Carolina
Campus police can be under two options: Private colleges have police agency status under GS 74E (Company police act) while state university system officers and community colleges have state law enforcement powers, such as mutual assistance, extraterritorial jurisdiction of one mile, the same as municipal police and can also enter into mutual assistance agreements. All police officers must be NC Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) certified and pass all state standards for peace officers.
North Dakota
The University of North Dakota (UND) Police Department is the department that is primarily responsible for patrolling and responding to calls on the UND campus. The police force is on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The police force also works with students and campus organizations to prevent and educate students about crime and the laws that are most applicable to students.
Ohio
State law in Ohio authorizes the board of trustees of a university to appoint police officers to serve their institutions and jurisdictions. All police officers in Ohio, including university police officers, are trained and certified to the same standards, as overseen by the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission. As such, university police officers have the same authority to carry weapons and make arrests.
- Ohio State University Police Department
- 53 sworn officers, 9 dispatchers, and 26 support personnel
- Special Response Team (SRT)
- Two Canine Units
- Patrol and Investigations Units
- Bicycle Patrol
- CALEA accredited
- Ohio University Police Department
- 31 sworn officers, 5 dispatchers, and 2 clerical support staff
- Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT)
- Patrol and Investigations Units
- 2 Canine Units
Oregon
Campus law enforcement in Oregon
Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania Police
Drexel University Police
Temple University Police
Penn State (University Park) Police
Rhode Island
University police at public institutions in the State of Rhode Island are sworn police officers.
Texas
University police at public institutions in the State of Texas are sworn police officers, and are vested with the same authority as other police officers in Texas.
- University of Texas at Austin Police Department
- 2 canine units
- Investigations and Patrol units
- Honor Guard
- Texas A&M University Police
- University of Houston Police
- University of North Texas Police
- Investigations and Patrol Units
- Two canine units
- CALEA and IACLEA accredited
Virginia
In Virginia, state law 23.234 authorizes university police officers to be armed and vests them with the same authority as other types of police officers in the State. All police officers must complete academy training mandated by DCJS.
Florida
New College of Florida Police Department
- Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Police
- Florida Atlantic University Police
- Florida Gulf Coast University Police
- Florida International University Police
- Florida State University Police
- University of Central Florida Police
- University of Florida Police
- University of North Florida Police
- University of South Florida Police
- University of West Florida Police
- Pensacola State College Police
- Miami University Police
Washington
University of Washington Police
West Virginia
West Virginia University Police
Philippines
- University of the Philippines Diliman Police (UPDP)
- University of the Philippines Los Baños - University Police Force (UPF)
See also
- Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies
- Safety escort service
References
External links
- International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators