UDM Police

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

Saw this Free Press that UDM wants its police to patrol outside of the campus as does Wayne State. There is now a new law to allow it. Does anyone happen to know how much outside of the campus this expanded patrolling might be?

http://www.freep.com/story/news/loca...-law/94328824/

Since Wayne's policing efforts have been a success in Midtown, this could be great for the UDM area.

[GMan]

They might want to reconsider after last nights events.
Prayers to officer Rose and his family.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...y-Detroit.html

[ekleezy]

They might want to reconsider after last nights events.
Prayers to officer Rose and his family.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...y-Detroit.html

It's really unfortunate and I hope Officer Rose has a speedy recovery. This also shows why areas surrounding college campuses need more patrolling though. If students, faculty, etc. are expected to live nearby then they have to feel like there is a police presence trying to prevent crime. Even seeing the occasional WSU PD car drive by is reassuring that less crime is likely.

[GMan]

It's really unfortunate and I hope Officer Rose has a speedy recovery. This also shows why areas surrounding college campuses need more patrolling though. If students, faculty, etc. are expected to live nearby then they have to feel like there is a police presence trying to prevent crime. Even seeing the occasional WSU PD car drive by is reassuring that less crime is likely.

Vital neighborhoods do need patrolling. Is it the colleges duty to operate outside their property jurisdictions though? Their resources are stretched as is everyone's. Should they be called to respond to general suspicion calls outside their property lines?
I can't imagine the resources are available to them to support this kind of mission. Do they have access to the interdepartmental communication channel to call for help from the DPD? Do they have funding for equipment such as body armor?
I know sometimes jurisdiction lines are blurred but I wonder if the colleges should be into policing issues as deeply as they are.
Thoughts?

[professorscott]

Vital neighborhoods do need patrolling. Is it the colleges duty to operate outside their property jurisdictions though?

Well, if Detroit was able to provide effective police protection, we wouldn't be having this discussion. I know from personal experience that the U of D Mercy Public Safety Officers have performed duties in the off-campus neighborhoods for decades, though perhaps unofficially. They have saved my skin more than once. Many of the students and faculty live in the neighborhoods just off campus, and the UDM officers work in the neighborhoods makes the University a more attractive choice for students [[and, relevantly, their parents) than if they were left to the scant amount of patrol work that the city police are able to perform.

Is it the University's duty? Not really. But it's necessary.

[GMan]

Well, if Detroit was able to provide effective police protection, we wouldn't be having this discussion. I know from personal experience that the U of D Mercy Public Safety Officers have performed duties in the off-campus neighborhoods for decades, though perhaps unofficially. They have saved my skin more than once. Many of the students and faculty live in the neighborhoods just off campus, and the UDM officers work in the neighborhoods makes the University a more attractive choice for students [[and, relevantly, their parents) than if they were left to the scant amount of patrol work that the city police are able to perform.

Is it the University's duty? Not really. But it's necessary.

I agree Safe Neighborhoods makes it more desirable for faculty and staff to live adjacent to campus. The bigger question is should it be the norm? Yes D.P.D. capacities are stretched beyond their limits but beyond patrolling and reporting, should university police be expected to approach and engage suspicious individuals beyond the campus?
Are school dollars used for securing campuses best used to patrol neighborhoods? Are they adequately trained and equipped to handle a home burglary or car breaking outside the gates of the campus? If this is the new norm, should campuses then be expected to have say their own swat teams? How about their own autonomous fire department then?
How far does it go?
s

[ekleezy]

Gman, like professorscott said, if the DPD had the resources to patrol these areas I'd agree that maybe the universities should focus on campus. It seems like an increasingly common thing in Detroit right now. For example, Gilbert developing his own security team downtown.

I saw somewhere that this is the first time a WSU officer has been shot in 36 years. That's a pretty good record for being in Detroit. Shouldn't scare them from patrolling. I'm not sure where the funding comes from, but it seems they can afford it and it's a top priority.

[jt1]

The reality is that a safe campus and surrounding area will make the University more desireable and potentially improve enrollment in the future.

Consider it an investment in the University

[GMan]

>I saw somewhere that this is the first time a WSU officer has been shot in 36 years. >That's a pretty good record for being in Detroit. Shouldn't scare them from patrolling. I'm >not sure where the funding comes from, but it seems they can afford it and it's a top >priority.

I see that the force goes back to 1966. I don't know if their existence from the start was as a fully deputized police force or not. I seem to recall campuses questioning the need for fully licensed officers with weapons as a recent think, [[last 10 years or so,) but I might be remembering wrong.

[ptero]

While the practice may have been questioned since then, WSU's force was fully deputized as of 1971 when I got there. I recall comments and discussions regarding this. Regularly patrolling off campus, they helped keep student apartment living safe.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

The reality is that a safe campus and surrounding area will make the University more desireable and potentially improve enrollment in the future.

Consider it an investment in the University

I think this comment "hits the nail on the head" so to speak. Without a vibrant police force to help security in the Midtown area, I certainly think Wayne State's enrollment and gradual transition away from a commuter only college would be severely impacted. Likewise, if the area around U of D can become safer as well as tied more into the commercial area, it will become a much more attractive institution. How great it would be to have more students, faculty and staff living in the adjoining neighborhoods.

[Dan Wesson]

Mt. Pleasant/CMU/ area has 5 police departments that have mutual aid/cross jurisdictional, deputy agreements.

CMU Police, Isabella County Sheriff Dept., MSP, Mt. Pleasant Police Dept., Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Police.

[GMan]

I think this comment "hits the nail on the head" so to speak. Without a vibrant police force to help security in the Midtown area, I certainly think Wayne State's enrollment and gradual transition away from a commuter only college would be severely impacted. Likewise, if the area around U of D can become safer as well as tied more into the commercial area, it will become a much more attractive institution. How great it would be to have more students, faculty and staff living in the adjoining neighborhoods.

I too believe in this statement. But it is the Cities police dept. that should be doing this, not the universities.

[bust]

The reality is that a safe campus and surrounding area will make the University more desireable and potentially improve enrollment in the future.

Consider it an investment in the University

I think this comment "hits the nail on the head" so to speak. Without a vibrant police force to help security in the Midtown area, I certainly think Wayne State's enrollment and gradual transition away from a commuter only college would be severely impacted. Likewise, if the area around U of D can become safer as well as tied more into the commercial area, it will become a much more attractive institution. How great it would be to have more students, faculty and staff living in the adjoining neighborhoods.

I agree completely [[and with professorscott too). I attended a university in a neighborhood plagued by crime during the peak of the crack epidemic. The city police force was stretched far too thin. The campus police seemed every bit as equipped and professional as a typical patrolman in the city force. Like UDM is proposing, they had license to patrol the surrounding neighborhood. A campus police patrol car was never more than a couple minutes away for blocks around and there were foot patrols too. Not only did this encourage students and professors to live near campus but it created a buffer zone that increased the safety of campus itself. And it increased the economic vitality of the surrounding neighborhood. All of this made a huge difference attracting students. But even with the positive impact that resulted from expanded campus police patrols crime was one of the biggest reasons why many chose not to attend. Working to fight it was not just a social and moral imperative but a financial one for the university too. I see strong parallels in today's situation at UDM.

This seems like a good place to thank public safety officers for all the good work they do.