NCJ Number
94816
Date Published
1983
Length
266 pages
Annotation
This study explores the organization and everyday activities of policing in an urban university environment and compares the work world of campus and municipal police to demonstrate the impact of local conditions on police practice.
Abstract
A major change on college campuses since World War II has been the divestment of the campus watchman-type organization and the formation of a formal police organization that can respond to larger student bodies, more vehicles on campus and more buildings to control, a rise in crime and fear of crime, and the potential for disorder arising from student demonstrations. This book first describes the contemporary campus police bureaucracy, covering internal structure, organization of line operations, disciplinary processes, jurisdiction and authority, and community relations. Recruitment, selection, orientation, and socialization processes in campus police are then discussed. Surveys suggest that university police officers choose this work over regular police work but view it as a job rather than a lifetime career. An examination of what campus police officers do on a daily basis and officers' perceptions of their roles and functions concludes that while legally and structurally university officers are police, functionally they are more security personnel. General characteristics of campus police work are reviewed, including task variety, danger, unpredictability, routine and boredom, stress, and solidarity among officers. The book also discusses the nature of crime at a university and basic strategies of control. The concluding chapter notes that campus policing differs from municipal policing in that it serves a population demographically different from the general population and emphasizes prevention and service rather than arrest. Over 160 references are appended.