A National Survey and Critical Analysis of University Police Statutes

This Paper provides an empirical study and critical analysis of university police statutes in all fifty jurisdictions, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. The primary focus of the survey is to examine the regulatory framework governing campus police officers at public institutions of higher education. The study employs a crossdisciplinary approach, combining critical legal and qualitative analyses to provide a comprehensive overview of the legal landscape surrounding university police across the United States. The findings of the study include several key elements related to university police, such as police powers, jurisdiction, governing bodies, removal procedures, and use of weapons. The Paper also explores the importance of analyzing university police statutes as a body of law amid national conversations of race, justice, and policing on college and university campuses. Furthermore, this study is the third empirical study in fifty years to examine the statutory authority of campus police officers. It builds upon the previous two studies by Gelber (1972) and Bromley (1996) and provides a critical perspective to the law of university police often absent from existing literature.