University police
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
University Police (or Campus Police) in the United States and Canada are often sworn police officers employed by a college or university to protect the campus and surrounding areas and the people who live on, work on and visit it.
Most officers are commissioned through their state Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) after completing established training and pre-licensure preparation (usually equivalent to that of a municipal or state peace officers, for routinely they attend the same police academy as local or state police officers). These Police Officers are employed in Police Department that vary in size depending on the institution, function and community size. Additionally many departments have 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 and programs. It’s also somewhat common for many campus police agencies to be better equipped and staffed then municipal and county agencies in their area due to the signifigant amount of funding avalibale in a college environment.
In Canada, University Police only exist in the province of Ontario. Canadian University Police are peace officers, sworn in as special constables by the municipal police services board in the jurisdiction that the respective University is in. Training is standardized by the provincial government and is very different from training that municipal / provincial police receive.
[edit] History
As a result of the domestic violence and mass civil disturbances found across the nation in the 1960s and early 1970s, campus security often proved ineffective against riots and other violent civil demonstrations. This occasionally resulted in injury to both the students and the officers. These campus security officers were often poorly trained, ineffectively led and unprepared to effectively respond to these turbulent and unanticipated events. Creation of university/campus police departments began at this time across the nation. Statutory laws were passed and necessary regulations were enacted to provide these officers with the necessary statutory authority to perform their expanded roles. Campus security officers were required to meet higher training and educational standards. Further training was given to officers to deal with campus-specific issues (including non-violent crisis management and riot training).
Creation of full service law enforcement agencies in campus environments did effectively stem many of the problems that had occurred as a result of poorly managed security forces. Today's campus police officers are better equipped to deal with campus specific issues, and have detailed understanding of law enforcement within a campus environment.
On many campuses, the police will employ students to act as escorts. In this capacity, they escort students who do not want to walk alone at night, thus allowing the professional police to concentrate on other duties.
On many campuses sworn police officers often work side by side with campus security officers who will perform similar duties and often assist each other. A clear distinction should be noted though. However some universities and colleges just employ campus security officers.
