Cuny public safety department (Peace Officers)
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The City University of New York (CUNY) Public Safety Department was founded in 1990 after CUNY found a need to provide public safety services for its own community. The goal of the Public Safety Department is to provide a safe atmosphere for visitors, staff, and students to enjoy all our campuses have to offer, or as we like to say "to protect and serve the university community". The deadly stampede during a 1991 charity basketball game at CCNY (City College New York) organized by Sean "Puffy" Combs and rapper Heavy D sparked CUNY to upgrade its level of security on its campuses. The stampeede at City College left nine people dead and 29 injured. Also in the 1990s CUNY suffered student take overs of its campuses during tuition hike protests. Students locked out the University Administration and were removed only after the NYPD was called in. These two incidents prompted the University to speed its development of an in house police force that it could use to enforce University policy as well as the laws of the State of New York.
In 1990 under the order of University Chancellor, the CUNY Public Safety Department was formed. Each of the 19 CUNY campuses were headed up by Directors. The only campus not to have active Public Safety personnel is John Jay College of Criminal Justice. This is due to the campus reserving its police service for students as a training tool. These Directors eventually were designated as Chiefs. The first officers to be brought on were Sergeants who were primarily retired police and correctional officers from around the City of New York. These first officers laid the ground work for a department that would grow to 600 members strong. In 1991 the first patrol officers were added to the ranks. These new patrol officers and their sergeants were designated special patrolman/police and sworn in under the Police Commissioner of the City of New york. After a few years, the ranks of corporal, lieutenant and specialist were introduced. All of these ranks are based on the NYPD; however, the ranks of corporal and specialist do not exist in the NYPD. The rank of specialist is equivelent to that of an NYPD detective but answers only to the chief of the campus that he or she works at. There are three types of specialist: Crime Prevention and Investigations, Electronics Service, and Fire Safety. Each specialist works in the area of his or her expertise. In recent years the rank of Deputy Chief/Director has been added to the rank structure. CUNY has full IPEMBA police bike officers, canine units at three campuses, and a special response team (SAFE team). The CUNY S.A.F.E. (Special Assistance For Events) team was activated on 9/11 and assisted with the emergency. CUNY trains its own officers at its academy located in Jamaica, Queens. CUNY also trains the Health and Hospital Police and may begin to train other law enforcement such as sheriffs. After some years CUNY no longer received its commission from the City of New York. The State of New York recognized CUNY Public Safety as full state Peace Officers.
Campus PEACE OFFICERS are designated as State of New York Peace Officers in accordance with Section 2.10, subsection 27 of the New York State Criminal Procedure Law. As New York State Peace Officers, these officers are fully sworn and commissioned by the State of New York to enforce the laws of the state of New York in their jurisdiction, which lies in the five boroughs of the City of New York. CUNY Peace Officers perform the same function as most other law enforcement departments in the state except for the serving of warrants. CUNY Officers may act on warrants that come to their attention, but the serving of warrants in the five boroughs is the jurisdiction of the NYPD. There is a memorandum of understanding that prohibits the NYPD from performing enforcement on any CUNY campus without the consent and assistance of CUNY Public Safety. CUNY Peace Officers may take police action any where in the five boroughs. The working relationship between the NYPD and CUNY peace officers is good. Both department have partnered to combat crime in neiborhoods near campuses throughout the city. Like all law enforcement departments throughout the City of New York, CUNY processes their prisoners at local NYPD precincts. CUNY then turns over their prisoners to the Department of Corrections at the central booking station of each borough. CUNY Peace Officers are recognized by the Fraternal Order of Police.
