Columbia University Might Give Campus Peace Officers the Power to Arrest

Columbia University Might Give Campus Peace Officers the Power to Arrest

This is all about the protests of the last year. How do you think this idea will go over with students? Some will probably try to provoke arrests just to be confrontational.

CBS News reports:

After protests, Columbia University considering peace officers with arrest power on campus

After protests that had to be broken up by the NYPD, Columbia University is considering expanding the capabilities of its public safety officers this fall, including possibly giving them the power to arrest people.

Days of unrest on the campus, including smashed windows and barricades and the occupation of Hamilton Hall, scarred the spring semester at Columbia University.

That came to an abrupt halt when the school called in the NYPD.

In hopes of avoiding a repeat in the fall, university president Minouche Shafik is proposing the school add peace officers to its security personnel.

What can peace officers do and how are they trained?

“If you’re afforded or awarded the peace officer status, you no longer have to cross-connect with the NYPD to make an arrest,” former NYPD Lt. Darrin Porcher explained.

Porcher said peace officers can take people into custody if they break the law on campus, and also bring them to jail.

“This is something that was long overdue,” Porcher said. “The peace officer status for campus security is nothing new, when we look at institutions such as Yale, Harvard, etc.”

Porcher says it requires officers take a class, and an exam.

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