Thursday, August 19, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 5
Safety officers get city jurisdiction
By Michael Terry writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Keeping the streets of Lawrence safe is no longer the job of only the Lawrence Police Department.
The University of Kansas Public Safety Office entered into an agreement with the police department May 11 to increase the University's police jurisdiction. KU public safety officers now have jurisdiction across the entire city of Lawrence, instead of just on campus.
The agreement came almost a year after a July, 1998 Kansas state law that allowed state universities to enter into agreements with local police departments to increase campus police jurisdictions.
Chris Keary, assistant director of the public safety office, said that the agreement did not mean that public safety officers would be patrolling the streets of Lawrence in search of criminals. However, he said, when an officer witnessed a crime, he would respond to the situation. But, Keary said that public safety officers had not yet dealt with many crimes off-campus.
"We have enough work on the KU campus to keep us busy, but there are times when we're transporting prisoners to the Douglas County Jail or just out picking up the mail when officers see violations occur," he said. "Now, for example, if an officer sees a drunk driver or someone excessively speeding down Massachusetts Street, he can stop them and take the proper actions."
Individual public safety officers received additional training before they were given jurisdiction across the city.
Before the agreement, public safety officers were allowed to
make off-campus stops, but they were required to radio the Lawrence police dispatch and get authorization from the officer on duty, Keary said.
"KU's officers have law enforcement certification and could go into another police department with little or no additional training." Mailen said. "This agreement just helps to make the street's of Lawrence that much safer for students and faculty as well as the whole Lawrence community."
"This was a problem because if an officer saw a suspected drunk driver sideswipe a car off-campus and then proceed to drive off, he used to have to go through this long cumbersome procedure before he could make the stop," he said. "Now the officer can act immediately and use his best judgment as to how to react to the situation, and then notify the Lawrence police and decide on what course of action to take next."
Sgt. Troy Mailen said the agreement gave his fellow officers an additional comfort level. Public safety officers could now react to a situation without worrying about a judge throwing the case out because the officer was out of his jurisdiction, he said.
"We have enough problems here on our campus," Miles said. "If they're just going to stop an individual when they see it absolutely necessary, and not go out there looking to add another ticket to their book, then I think it will probably be all right."
Michelle Miles, Lawrence junior, said that she was concerned about public safety officers spending too much time off-campus.
—Edited by Matt James
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