ERIC Number: EJ986263
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 3
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0739-0394
EISSN: N/A
A New Campus Police Agency: A Florida Experience
Parfitt, Rick
Campus Law Enforcement Journal, v42 n5 p19, 21-22 Sep-Oct 2012
Campus policing is a geographically focused police practice and the epitome of community oriented policing. Campus law enforcement agencies deal not only with a racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse population, they also deal with populations that change dramatically every year. While some campuses are enclaves unto themselves, many are open and inviting to the community at large. Campus police are the source of protection for students, faculty, and staff, and many deal with larger groups of visitors or guests who may be attending sporting events, concerts, lectures, or other public activities. How a college decides to provide protection likely has been influenced by many factors, including neighborhood demographics, crime trends, or even the fear of crime. Highly publicized shootings on or near college campuses have generated much news and thus much debate on emergency communication, rapid response to active shooters, and threat assessment. In 2000 Florida had 12 colleges and universities with campus police agencies and by 2010 there were 15. Edison State College is one of those institutions that added a law enforcement agency to the campus. The college, celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2012, experienced tremendous growth in a six-year period as it transitioned from a junior college to community college to the present state college in 2008. Composed of three campuses and an Educational Center, Edison State College, part of the Florida College System, serves a population of more than one million people in five counties in southwest Florida, a region that has grown in population and infrastructure, especially with its large tourist trade. Because of the growth of the college and community and certainly concern for the safety of the students, faculty, staff, and visitors, the college board of trustees in early 2009 established a Department of Public Safety and added law enforcement officers, creating a hybrid-style agency, similar to many colleges, of sworn law enforcement and non-sworn officers. As a commuter college its main business hours were covered by a law enforcement presence along with non-sworn public safety officers.
International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. 342 North Main Street, West Hartford, CT 06117. Tel: 860-586-7517; Fax: 860-586-7550; e-mail: info@iaclea.org; Web site: http://www.iaclea.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Florida
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A