By: Melanie Tanaka

The number of police brutality incidents across the country has caused people to take sides for and against law enforcement officers. College campuses are increasing their number of sworn officers. For some, the presence of law enforcement officers is uncomfortable and threatening, while for others they provide a sense of security.

College campus law enforcement officers patrol colleges and universities to provide quicker response times to incidents on campuses. Campus police departments can consist of sworn police officers and non-sworn security officers. Sworn police officers are trained to carry a gun while non-sworn security officers do not carry a gun. According to the 2011-12 Campus Law Enforcement Special Report, 75% of college campuses use sworn officers compared to 68% in 2004-05. The number of sworn campus law enforcement officers continues to increase every year. In 2012, 92% of public colleges and universities have sworn police officers. While 38% of private colleges have sworn police officers.

In 1990, The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act or the Clery Act was signed. The Clery Act requires all colleges and universities in to share crime related incidents on and around their campuses. This law is named after Jeanne Clery, a college student at Lehigh University who was raped and murdered in her campus residence hall in 1986. The increased number of law enforcement officers on college campuses work to respond to calls and report all incidents on and around their campuses.

College law enforcement officers providing quick response times can save lives. On November 28, 2016, an Ohio State student crashed his car in a populated area on campus and began stabbing nearby students. An Ohio State police officer responded, he shot and killed the attacker when he would not cooperate with the officer. According to an article from CNN, the incident only lasted two minutes due to the officer’s quick response time. The amount of force that law enforcement officers use can also be questionable. On November 18, 2011, a peaceful student protest at UC Davis was broken up by a campus police officer that sprayed a group of students in the face with pepper spray while they were sitting on the ground. The officer was placed on paid administrative leave and was investigated by internal affairs which consisted of two former law enforcement officers. The officer involved was fired, but he did receive $38,000 in worker’s compensation.