Campus Police Research Articles

Were campus police covered by public records law?

ESPN reporter Paula Lavigne sought incident reports in 2014 from the University of Notre Dame campus police involving 275 student‐athletes.

Were campus police covered by public records law?

ESPN reporter Paula Lavigne sought incident reports in 2014 from the University of Notre Dame campus police involving 275 student‐athletes. When that request was denied, ESPN filed a lawsuit claiming a violation of Indiana's Access to Public Records Act.

Were campus police covered by public records law?

ESPN reporter Paula Lavigne sought incident reports in 2014 from the University of Notre Dame campus police involving 275 student‐athletes. When that request was denied, ESPN filed a lawsuit claiming a violation of Indiana's Access to Public Records Act.

Campus Police Cooperation and Legitimacy: Extending the Procedural Justice Model

ABSTRACTThis paper extends the procedural justice model to campus policing, examining both the antecedents of legitimacy as well as the relative influence of student legitimacy evaluations on their likelihood of reporting campus crimes to the public safety department. A simple random sample of 31 undergraduate sections (n = 554) responded to a paper survey instrument. Undergraduate respondents indicate general procedural justice ratings are significantly related to their evaluations of campus police (CP) legitimacy. In turn, legitimacy ratings are significantly related to reporting likelihood. However, evaluations of the effectiveness of the CP have a stronger relationship with legitimacy than procedural justice.

Improve parking enforcement by eliminating physical permits

Parking enforcement is a routine operation for most campus police and safety units, but that doesn't keep it from being a hassle. Parking permits get lost in the mail after students order them. And machines for paying for daily parking are sensitive and often affected by weather, as are the daily permits themselves.

Put focus on mental health issues to keep campus safe

Richard Beary, chief of police at the University of Central Florida, believes in keeping his campus safe by addressing the core problems that lead to crime and create safety challenges. And the biggest problem campus police units face is mental health issues. About 30 percent of people who are shot by law enforcement officers have mental health problems, Beary said. And on a large campus like UCF, many students struggle with mental health challenges. “The majority of our cases have young people who know they need help and are trying to get it,” Beary said. Campus officials can't just say, “See you in nine weeks [for a counseling appointment],” he added.

Campus police officer's actions justify lawsuit

Case name: Penkalski v. Gerstner, No. 12‐cv‐168 (W.D. Wis. 06/30/15).

Consider advantages of body‐worn cameras

Body‐worn cameras can provide a big benefit to campus safety units. Campus police officers respond to many calls on foot, and many calls take officers inside residence halls and academic buildings, so a dashcam doesn't do them much good, said Tom Saccenti, chief of police at Furman University.

News Briefing

Campus police apprehend student for on‐campus murder Students file suit accusing university of enabling second rape Mass attack at Ohio State injures 11, attacker dead Campus police officer killed in the line of duty

The carrot and the stick? Strategies to improve compliance with college campus tobacco policies

ABSTRACTObjective: Tobacco-free policies are being rapidly adopted nationwide, yet compliance with these policies remains a challenge. This study explored college campus key informants' experiences with tobacco policies, and their perceived benefits, drawbacks, and outcomes. Participants: The sample for this study was 68 key informants representing 16 different California universities with varying tobacco policies (no smoking indoors and within 20 feet of entrances, designated smoking areas, 100% smoke-free, and 100% tobacco-free). Methods: Qualitative, descriptive study. Semistructured interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using content analysis. Results: Strategies to improve compliance ranged from a social approach to a heavy focus on punitive enforcement. Key informants from campuses using a social approach alone reported barriers to improving compliance, including a perceived lack of efficacy of the approach. However, these campuses found it challenging to incorporate enforcement through campus police or security. Conclusions: College campus decision makers should explore using a combined approach (social approach as well as formal enforcement), with enforcement primarily the responsibility of nonpolice university channels (eg, Student Affairs, employee supervisors).

Uphold high standards with effective policies, consistent enforcement

I've had the privilege of serving as the chief officer of a few campus police and safety departments over the course of my career. During this time, I have also had the privilege — and the great responsibility — to create, modify, renew, or remove department policies, be they rules and regulations, general orders, standard operating procedures, or some combination of two or more of these forms of internal governance.

Clery compliance on American campuses: Knowledge and organization by Clery compliance officers

The Crime Awareness and Campus Safety Act was passed by Congress in 1990 and took effect on 1 September 1991. In 1998, the name of the law was changed to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crimes Statistics Act. Many amendments have been made to the Act over time. Recent focus on sexual violence and increased reporting requirements have engendered many campus police agencies to work to develop a better understanding of what is required of them and to vest the responsibility of collecting data and preparing the Annual Security Report (ASR) and Annual Fire Safety Report, along with other Clery-related responsibilities to an employee designated at the Clery Compliance Officer (CCO). This study was completed to assess the current status of the CCO, whether these persons were complying with Clery reporting requirements, and what changes are needed to make CCO’s more effective. Failures by the CCO to comply with Clery reporting requirements can result in large fines for their institutions and perceptions that crime on campus is being hidden. The results of this study suggest that almost half of IACLEA member and non-member institutions are likely not in full compliance with the Clery Act because of a wide variety of compliance issues related to ASRs, audit trails, lack of full-time staff who are dedicated to and understand all of the complexities of compliance, inappropriate record keeping and other individual issues.

Take a comprehensive approach to campus safety

Your campus police department can do a lot on its own to keep students, faculty, and staff members safe. But your efforts will be even more effective if you work with divisions across campus to create a holistic approach to campus safety.

Take a comprehensive approach to campus safety

Your campus police department can do a lot on its own to keep students, faculty, and staff members safe. But your efforts will be even more effective if you work with divisions across campus to create a holistic approach to campus safety.

Lawsuits & Rulings

Gender Discrimination: Former coach allowed to claim discrimination Suspension: Student fails to get suspension lifted Student Affairs: Jury will decide whether campus police used excessive force

Did student find judicial relief from alleged university bias?

Ethan Peloe — a student at the University of Cincinnati — was accused of raping two female classmates in March 2014. He denied raping the women, and campus police took no action after its investigation. However, the university proceeded with disciplinary charges against him for a violation of its student conduct code, and set a hearing.

Stop and question campus policing

Purpose Stopping and questioning citizens is an important policing tactic. Prior research explores citizens’ perceptions of stop and question policing, or “SQP”, by municipal police, yet campus police also use this tactic. The purpose of this paper is to understand whether and why college students believe campus police should have the right to engage in SQP. Design/methodology/approach Data come from 73 in-depth interviews with students attending a university in metropolitan Atlanta, GA. The sample was obtained through convenience and purposive sampling methods. Data were analyzed using the ethnographic perspective. Findings Most participants said campus police should practice SQP for three reasons: it is their job; SQP is an effective crime fighting tactic; and SQP is useful given the features and functions of college campuses. Among participants who said campus police should not practice SQP, they were concerned that officers would use it in unwarranted situations. Practical implications Findings suggest that the police might be able to reduce resistance to SQP by clearly explaining to suspects why they are being stopped and also clarifying to the public the legal thresholds for stopping and questioning citizens. Originality/value This is the first study to consider perceptions of SQP by campus police. The findings also shed light on how campus and municipal police are (dis)similar in perceptions of their SQP practices.

The continued marginalization of campus police

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine a campus community’s knowledge and acceptance of their campus police as “real” police. Design/methodology/approach Using the liminality theoretical framework, this study surveyed students, faculty, staff, and administrators (n=1,484). Students were surveyed in-person, while staff, faculty, and administrators participated through an e-mail link to an online survey. Findings Results indicate that campus police are stuck in a liminal state. While 80 percent of the sample thought campus police should be armed, almost two-thirds (64 percent) did not know or were unsure of campus police officer tasks and three-quarters (75 percent) did not know or were unsure of campus police training requirements. Research limitations/implications The participants come from one university campus, so the generalizability of the sample is limited. Originality/value This study provides more evidence of the marginalization of campus police. Specifically, this study highlights that a majority of participants could not or were unable to identify campus police officers’ training and duties. Instead of using small qualitative samples, this study utilized over 1,400 participants on one campus, which provides more explanatory power about the perception problems of the campus police. This study also continues to advance and expand liminal theory.

Do Campus Police Ruin College Students’ Fun?

ABSTRACTCollege students drink alcohol to have fun, but this can lead to trouble with campus police. Based on qualitative data obtained via interviews with 73 students, this article draws on the ethnographic perspective to describe and explain their perceptions of whether campus police ruin college students’ fun. Findings are discussed with respect to prior research on the topic, as well as their broader relevance to utilitarianism, police legitimacy, and procedural justice.

Jury to decide whether campus police used excessive force against students

Case name: Fellarca, et al. v. Birgeneau, et al., No. 11‐cv‐05719 (N.D. Cal. 01/27/16).