Academyless campus cops?

[Lawson]

So, I was recently talking to someone about Campus Security, and he was telling me about how there are some colleges out there that actually commission their officers as "Campus Police" or "Campus Security with Police Authority" ... now that, I can understand. ...but... what got me was he said that some colleges and universities don't have to put their officers through a police academy, never-the-less make them pass civil service, poly/psych, or PT Tests. From what I hear, they get the red and blue lights, the ability to make Peace Officer arrests, commit terry stops, enforce traffic, transport prisoners, etc...

What I want to know, does anyone know of colleges that actually do this? I come here as I know some of you are Campus security. If so, how does the college get the power to grant these people the authority they are granted, and if it comes from the State or an LE Agency, why arent these officers expected to meet all the requirements?

Thanks for responses.

[Mall Director]

Yes, one college in particular, in Wyoming, allows the use of Blue lights, firearms, police type powers, but limited to the property only. The Officers are not P.O.S.T. certified, nor go through any academy. I believe because it recieves state and federal funding, they are able to work around alot of issues. I am not pleased with it, but I also havent taken the time to investigate why. I had one campus officer who had a very poor mentality and maturity level, that enough was to scare me!

[Black Caesar]

So, I was recently talking to someone about Campus Security, and he was telling me about how there are some colleges out there that actually commission their officers as "Campus Police" or "Campus Security with Police Authority" ... now that, I can understand. ...but... what got me was he said that some colleges and universities don't have to put their officers through a police academy, never-the-less make them pass civil service, poly/psych, or PT Tests. From what I hear, they get the red and blue lights, the ability to make Peace Officer arrests, commit terry stops, enforce traffic, transport prisoners, etc...

What I want to know, does anyone know of colleges that actually do this? I come here as I know some of you are Campus security. If so, how does the college get the power to grant these people the authority they are granted, and if it comes from the State or an LE Agency, why arent these officers expected to meet all the requirements?

Thanks for responses.

It varies from state to state like everything else of course. What you describe can't happen here in Texas by law.

51.203. CAMPUS PEACE OFFICERS. (a) The governing
boards of each state institution of higher education and public
technical institute may employ and commission peace officers for
the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this subchapter. The
primary jurisdiction of a peace officer commissioned under this
section includes all counties in which property is owned, leased,
rented, or otherwise under the control of the institution of higher
education or public technical institute that employs the peace
officer.
..
...
....
(d) Any officer assigned to duty and commissioned shall take
and file the oath required of peace officers.
(e) Any person commissioned under this Act must be a
certified police officer under the requirements of the Texas
Commission on Law Enforcement Officers and Standards.

Edit: DOH! I may have spoken too soon, I totally forgot about the section pertaining to Security Officers at private institutions.

§ 51.212. SECURITY OFFICERS AT PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS. (a)
The governing boards of private institutions of higher education,
including private junior colleges, are authorized to employ and
commission campus security personnel for the purpose of enforcing
the law of this state on the campuses of private institutions of
higher education. Any officer commissioned under the provisions of
this section is vested with all the powers, privileges, and
immunities of peace officers while on the property under the
control and jurisdiction of the respective private institution of
higher education or otherwise in the performance of his assigned
duties. Any officer assigned to duty and commissioned shall take
and file the oath required of peace officers, and shall execute and
file a good and sufficient bond in the sum of $1,000, payable to the
governor, with two or more good and sufficient sureties,
conditioned that he will fairly, impartially, and faithfully
perform the duties as may be required of him by law. The bond may be
sued on from time to time in the name of the person injured until the
whole amount is recovered.

I don't see anything about certification there. I don't know of any private institution that does this, the security guys are private college I know personally don't enforce the law, and all the private university police departments I know of (like TCU PD and SMU PD) require certification. I think it may be one of those "little known, little used" laws, but I don't know.

Well, I learned something today .

[N. A. Corbier]

Wisconsin has towns so small that college degrees aren't required, and you don't need POST immediately. Case in point, you require POST in Kenosha, but you don't require a 60 college credits for up to five years. The Kenosha County Sheriff, on the other hand, requires 60 college credits + POST for consideration.

I've seen the Texas Peace Officer "Private Security Officer on Private Institution" law before, and thought it was interesting. Basically, all that's required is a peace officer swear an oath to the state, buy a bond stating that they'll uphold that oath, and they're good to go.

It also looks like they're capable of being armed under peace officer statutes without certification. The $1,000 dollar amount, also, is extremely low per employee.

I wonder how much bond the agency needs, and if they are accountable to the State of Texas.

[Guest]

I don't know of any colleges in California that have police officers who have not completed a full Basic Police Academy, but I know of several school district police departments who do.

By California state law, in order to exercise the powers of a peace officer (in CA the titles peace officer and police officer are interchangeable) you only need to complete a 40-hour course in powers of arrest. It is known as the P.C. 832 Course after the corresponding section in the Penal Code that defines this law. If you wish to carry a firearm you only have to complete a separate 24-hour firearm course that includes range time. So with only a grand total of 64-hours of training you can be a police officer and armed with a firearm.

California Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) has totally different requirements. A POST-certified Basic Police Academy is a minimum of 664 hours; although, most academies are now around 800 hours and I have been told that LAPD's academy is over 1000 hours. The catch is that participation in the POST program is completely VOLUNTARY for departments! The good news is that I do not know of a single municipal police department or county sheriff in the state who does not participate in POST. So do the vast majority of specialist agencies, such as school district police, university police, and the like but there are a few who do not. If you go to POST's website http://www.post.ca.gov/library/other/agency_page.asp you will see a list of the agencies that do and do not participate in POST. The vast majority of the agencies that do not participate are small school districts, district attorney investigators, county corner investigators, park rangers, and the like.

So it is possible to be a police officer in California without completing an academy, but you must complete either the 40-hour or 64-hour P.C. 832 course, depending if the agency carries firearms or not.

[Black Caesar]

WOW, post is voluntary in California, I didn't know that. My sister is a deputy sheriff in Cali, but this never came up. I learned something else today.

I also learned that some states still let you be a police officer at 18 and without going to an academy, like West Virginia. That's just insane IMO, but to each his own.

[Guest]

WOW, post is voluntary in California, I didn't know that. My sister is a deputy sheriff in Cali, but this never came up. I learned something else today.

I also learned that some states still let you be a police officer at 18 and without going to an academy, like West Virginia. That's just insane IMO, but to each his own.

By California state law, the minimum age to be a police officer is 18, but most departments will require you to be 21. Back when the California State Police existed (the State Police was absorbed by the Highway Patrol in 1995), they were known for hiring 18-year-olds.

The only other agency that I know of that will actually hire you at 18 is the California State Hospital Police. They police the state mental hospitals and developmentally disabled hospitals across the state. They are one of those specialized agencies that are not in POST and only require the P.C. 832 course. They are also unarmed, but are agressevely trying to change that and trying to get into the POST program, so they will eventually require a full academy.

[HotelSecurity]

To be a Police Officer in Quebec you have to attend the Ecole National de Police or be in the RCMP. The Universite de Montreal have Special Constables that do not have to attend the government run Police School. On the postitive side they are the only university in Montreal (we have 4) that at least have the Special Constable powers. The other 3 use Contract Agencies

[Jackhole]

Not really an issue in NY. All the state colleges have a police department, most private colleges have security officers, but some are using peace officers, but they still have fairly stringent hiring standards. Community colleges are a mixed bag. Some have security, others use officers with enhanced police powers under the NYS Education Law.

[LavianoTS386]

^ I just got hired at the states smallest community college as a security officer. All the positions are part time save for the director. No benefits aside from a state pension. They were getting paid a mere $8.50/hr but that's gradually going to rise to $10.50 an hour. If you are certified to carry intermediate weapons you can. No firearms.

[Lawson]

^ I just got hired at the states smallest community college as a security officer. All the positions are part time save for the director. No benefits aside from a state pension. They were getting paid a mere $8.50/hr but that's gradually going to rise to $10.50 an hour. If you are certified to carry intermediate weapons you can. No firearms.

Do you have any peace officer powers?

[knotquiteawake]

I work at a University in California, and we are PC 832. So Peace Officer arrest but no full POST. when all is said and done though we will have completed over 80 hours of training classes at local police academy's or ROP centers plus about 10 weeks of in house training. So, its not as scary as some students think it is.

[The Lord of the Keys]

I've been trying to get into a college for Police or Security work here in NY. The State Colleges have a full Police Department as do some of the Private Colleges. I know the State Schools are Civil Service and require the Acedemy. Other Private Colleges have Peace Officers while some have Security and a few have a combination such as Ithaca College which has both a PD and Security Officers.

[Squalie]

In NJ, you can not be a Police Officer on a college campus without having a valid Police Training Commission certificate. You can not be a Security Officer and carry a weapon on school grounds. Hence, if people want guns and arrest powers on campus, they will have to start a Police Department. My department is a hybrid, 56 sworn police, 46 non-sworn security.

I am also President of our states association for campus public safety and if anyone in our state was operating with shady training or standards, I would work with them to improve their situation as like anything else, a few bad apples spoil the bunch. Campus law Enforcement has made great strides in the past 20 years and you hate to see a couple of bad examples taking away from everyone else.

[Jackhole]

I've been trying to get into a college for Police or Security work here in NY. The State Colleges have a full Police Department as do some of the Private Colleges. I know the State Schools are Civil Service and require the Acedemy. Other Private Colleges have Peace Officers while some have Security and a few have a combination such as Ithaca College which has both a PD and Security Officers.

Which colleges have you seen with peace officers?