As Syracuse University continues to grow in population and size, so too do the demands placed on the Department of Public Safety. As of last summer, a new brand of officers has been deployed on campus and the surrounding areas to better control criminal activity.

The Peace Officers, a division of Public Safety with authority one step below that of officers in the Syracuse Police Department, began active duty on July 1. The added authority of the Peace officers gives them the power to use emergency equipment like vehicles with sirens. They can also carry firearms and pull over traffic violators.

The program began last fall as the first group of Public Safety officers, and a few new recruits, began training with Syracuse Police to obtain Peace officer status.

Marlene Hall, the director of Public Safety, said there are currently 26 Peace officers on duty, with a total of about 50 expected to be active by next July, a number higher than expected.

‘With all the new downtown properties, we needed additional personnel for buildings like the Warehouse and Center of Excellence,’ Hall said.

The Peace officer status has also allowed an increased jurisdiction for Public Safety, which includes the campus proper and any public roads adjacent to university property, Hall said. However, SPD has complete jurisdiction for the campus community, adding another layer to the relationship between the two departments.

‘It’s more effective,’ Hall said. ‘It helps to be able to work on calls together.’

The increased jurisdiction also gives the officers the power to make arrests and stops on roadways. Whereas in the past Public Safety officers would have to call in suspicious vehicles to Syracuse Police, they now have the power to pull cars over and make the arrest unaided. This is also beneficial, Hall said, because now Peace officers can give chase if a suspect attempts to get away.

‘We can go ahead and make arrests right now from the booking process,’ said Capt. Drew Buske of Public Safety. ‘We used to have to wait for SPD.’

The program has also strengthened the relationship between Syracuse Police and the university. Hall said it was their department that originally suggested looking into moving up to Peace officer status.

‘Chief (Gary) Miguel has been very supportive of this,’ Hall said.

In order to attain Peace officer status, officers had to undergo 300 hours of training with SPD, including special training with firearms. Although state law states Peace officers are not required to carry a firearm, Hall said Public Safety’s firearms are a ‘by-product’ of the program. Officers were trained with firearms according to country standards as opposed to state.

She said the previous level of officers, called ‘enhanced authority,’ were only able to carry batons and pepper spray, and would have actually had to move down a level in order to be able to carry firearms, much like they did in the 1960s and 1970s.

The training program is tailored to each individual officer, depending on experience with the department or police work in general. Hall said there are three levels of Peace officers: basic (new recruits), conversion (former enhanced authority Public Safety officers) and waverable (Peace officers with a police background). There are currently about six waverable officers, Buske said.

‘We looked at each officer’s background and see what else needs to be plugged into their training,’ Hall said.

Not all officers will take on the role of Peace officer, however. Hall said when the Peace officer proposal first came up, the department told the university community there would still be several of the enhanced authority officers on duty.

‘We promised the community we would remain a multi-level organization,’ Hall said.

Based on their prior knowledge, refresher courses were offered to Public Safety officers in such areas as firearms, use of force and interrogation.

The Peace officer division comes with a price tag of half a million dollars during the next four years, which includes salaries, vehicles and equipment and official badges for each officer, said Donna Lynne Adams, assistant director for administration and technology at Public Safety.

Despite the influx of changes to the department, Public Safety is not alone among other schools in the U.S. Hall said 91 percent of universities comparable to SU already have either armed or sworn in officers on patrol.

‘We’re joining the trend,’ Hall said.

Published on September 18, 2005 at 12:00 pm