# Is a University Campus off limits to local Law Enforcement? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 20, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854 "2014-05-20T19:30:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/21 "2014-05-21T03:24:41Z")
In Georgia, accredited campus police have\* original \*jurisdiction on their campuses, and 500 yards in every direction around the institution. (And police who work for any department within the state’s public university system have full jurisdiction at any institution operated by the Board of Regents.) However, in Georgia, a sheriff (and his deputies) have full jurisdiction within any municipality inside his county. I can’t imagine that doesn’t include the campus of a college or university. And then there are colleges and universities that have only campus security - not an accredited police agency. Obviously, city or county police or deputies would have original jurisdiction there. And every state has different rules, so there’s no single right answer to this question. But, as stated above, the better question is probably whether colleges apply any pressure to handle things internally and keep sordid events out of the news. This probably isn’t about police jurisdiction, but spin control. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/22 "2014-05-21T04:56:53Z")
Well ultimately all a campus cop can do is expell a student. They dont have jails. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/23 "2014-05-21T05:01:36Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Well ultimately all a campus cop can do is expell a student. They dont have jails. They have science labs. They could make you submit to medical procedures by students. Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/24 "2014-05-21T09:59:21Z")
If they lack a jail (and I’m not saying that all campus police departments lack them), it’d be as straightforward as taking the suspect into custody and handing them off to a police department which does have a jail. I know some military bases will do that if they lack their own jails, depending on the severity of the offense. Another datum, when I went to school at Texas A&M, the Texas A&M University Police Department was indeed a Real Police Department™, whose primary concern was ensuring the safety (and law-following-ness) of the 45,000+ students (not counting faculty and staff) on campus. Their jurisdiction, the way it was explained to me, extended to every county in the State of Texas where the Texas A&M University system owned property. Which is, BTW, a substantial portion of the state of Texas, given the amount of research the University does in various fields, plus the various local campuses like Texas A&M at Galveston. In any case, they mostly stayed on campus and let the College Station Police Department handle the off-campus stuff (and why not? It’d just be more work for them to police off campus in addition to their normal responsibilities), but I have seen the UPD respond to car accidents off campus on more than one occasion, presumably because they were close by. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/25 "2014-05-21T10:08:30Z")
Lots of police departments don’t have jails and it’s not a big deal. My city’s police department doesn’t have a jail. There is _a_ jail, but it’s the county’s jail. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/26 "2014-05-21T12:22:39Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Lots of police departments don’t have jails and it’s not a big deal. My city’s police department doesn’t have a jail. There is _a_ jail, but it’s the county’s jail. I don’t know any towns that have their own jails. Just very temporary holding cells until they can be transferred to the county. That includes the college police departments. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/27 "2014-05-21T12:44:30Z")
Columbia is a private university. I can’t imagine the campus “police” have any real authority on or off the campus. But even state universities (need I mention Penn State?) prefer to air their linens in private (read “cover up”) than to go public. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/28 "2014-05-21T13:43:15Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Columbia is a private university. I can’t imagine the campus “police” have any real authority on or off the campus. But even state universities (need I mention Penn State?) prefer to air their linens in private (read “cover up”) than to go public. Columbia does not have police. If you are on campus and call 911 you get the NYPD. Your other conjecture is just basically saying that in some cases you can find corruption in government. Well yeah it’s happened. However if fully certified police whether employed by a university or other government entity does not do his legal duty through malfeasance, misfeasance or nonfeasance they open themselves up to official misconduct charges. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/29 "2014-05-21T13:56:01Z")
Campus police _can’t_ expel a student. They can report a student to the university administration, who can expel them, but they can’t do it themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/30 "2014-05-21T14:33:46Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Columbia does not have police. If you are on campus and call 911 you get the NYPD. Harvard is a private college. I’ve seen the Harvard police cars all the time, so I decided to look them up. [http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/hupd\_overview.php](http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/hupd_overview.php) > [@](#): > > HUPD officers are sworn special State Police officers with deputy sheriff powers. Those powers give them the authority to respond to any crime on campus and any “breach of the peace” on city streets in Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston. Officers receive the same academy training as officers from Cambridge. With the exception of a couple of crimes, such as a homicide, the HUPD has primary jurisdiction over all crimes occurring on campus. However, the Department maintains a good working relationship with Cambridge Police, Boston Police, Massachusetts State Police, and Somerville Police and will coordinate with them at times in order to ensure the most appropriate response to criminal incidents occurring both on campus and the areas immediately adjacent to campus. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/31 "2014-05-21T14:51:17Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Well ultimately all a campus cop can do is expell a student. They dont have jails. BZZZZ, oh sorry, the correct answer is “some campuses have jails”. I happen to have been friends with the Chief of Police at a large campus, and spent time in the facility - they definitely had jails. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/32 "2014-05-21T17:51:41Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > BZZZZ, oh sorry, the correct answer is “some campuses have jails”. > > I happen to have been friends with the Chief of Police at a large campus, and spent time in the facility - they definitely had jails. You do realize that a holding pen/cell is not a jail , right? I’m sure there are colleges with holding pens , just like there are airports and train stations with holding pens/cells. They are used to hold someone who is arrested temporarily pending transport to court or the county jail. Jails are for longer term incarceration and have beds, facilities to feed inmates, provisions for medical services. etc. I don’t believe any college campus has that- I don’t even know of any police departments with jails. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/33 "2014-05-21T18:26:26Z")
> [@lawbuff](#): > > In Ohio, Ohio law gives state run University police basic Exclusive jurisdiction under 3345.04. So they have primary jurisdiction of the campus. > > Mutual Aid Agreements can be entered into to give university police and local police jurisdiction on each other’s turf. > > Some states I suppose give campus police concurrent jurisdiction on areas immediate adjacent of the Campus even without a MAA. > > So the answer is STATE specific. I remember once in the mid 70s city police in riot gear lined up 10 feet apart on the East side of N. High St. in Columbus across the street from the OSU main campus. Of course, OSU was playing Michigan at home that day. ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/34 "2014-05-21T20:18:02Z")
I attended the University of Vermont (a public university) and our campus police was actually comprised of Vermont state troopers. IIRC, their uniforms had special insignia reflecting their status as UVM Police Services officers, and their patrol cars were also different. However, UVM Police Services was technically a VT State police precinct that was located on the UVM campus and these officers have the same jurisdiction and authority as any other VT state trooper. The great thing about it was that their reach was subject to the same constraints that police officers are subject to - i.e., if you forgot to put a towel under the door before toking up they would need a warrant to come into your room and bust you for marijuana possession which was probably more trouble than it was worth. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/35 "2014-05-21T21:01:10Z")
Some colleges have “public safety” officers who may or may not be armed but do not have arrest authority. Here in Milwaukee, Marquette University has public safety officers who are armed but do not have police powers. But soon they will. The state legislature passed a law that will make Marquette officers sworn police. I find it odd to allow a private college to form an agency with arrest powers. OTOH, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a state institution but has unarmed, non-sworn public safety officers comprised mostly of retired police officers. Strange. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/36 "2014-05-21T21:24:11Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I find it odd to allow a private college to form an agency with arrest powers. In Ohio, private universities (and hospitals) can have police forces with secret arrest powers that no other agency has. Since they’re private, their reports are not public records. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/37 "2014-05-21T21:33:37Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > In Ohio, private universities (and hospitals) can have police forces with secret arrest powers that no other agency has. Since they’re private, their reports are not public records. Cite and details, please. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/38 "2014-05-21T21:34:36Z")
Is that sort of like double secret probation? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/39 "2014-05-21T21:37:32Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Cite and details, please. [Here.](http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/01/19/shielded-from-the-public.html) They aren’t even required to release reports to the people they arrest. There’s a bill before the legislature to change it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854/40 "2014-05-23T01:39:58Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Some colleges have “public safety” officers who may or may not be armed but do not have arrest authority. > > Here in Milwaukee, Marquette University has public safety officers who are armed but do not have police powers. But soon they will. The state legislature passed a law that will make Marquette officers sworn police. I find it odd to allow a private college to form an agency with arrest powers. > > OTOH, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a state institution but has unarmed, non-sworn public safety officers comprised mostly of retired police officers. Strange. Princeton University has sworn police officers. They are academy trained under the police training commission just like all other officers in the state. They have full police powers. They have to maintain their weapons qualifications. But they are unarmed. That is a university policy not a law. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-university-campus-off-limits-to-local-law-enforcement/688854.md?page=3)