The University Of Utah: State Safety Audit Supports Idea Of Campus Departments

Salt Lake City UT

21 April, 2022

4:53 PM

Description

Press release from The University of Utah: April 20, 2022 Recent crimes at U.S. colleges have reignited a perennial debate about campus policing: Would campus communities be safer contracting with local or state police departments for law enforcement? Or should colleges and universities keep their costly, but specialized, safety operations in place? A state audit released this week concluded the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) should support and reinforce independent university police departments from Logan to St. George. "Although there are many similarities between university police, municipal police, and county sheriff's offices, policing in the university setting is a unique form of law enforcement," the auditors wrote. "In addition to more traditional law enforcement duties (e.g. emergency response, patrol, investigation, and traffic enforcement) universities have unique public safety needs." Those unique policing responsibilities include: Nationally, 98% of public colleges and universities have their own campus law enforcement agencies, and 91% of private institutions do. In Utah, only Salt Lake Community College contracts for police service at four of its 10 campuses, with the Utah Highway Patrol. The state legislative auditors did not recommend Utah's colleges and universities switch to contracting for law enforcement, but suggested the institutions conduct regular reviews of campus policing service levels and alternative models. University of Utah Chief Safety Officer Keith Squires said he welcomes the review. "While the University of Utah continues to invest in safety enhancements and innovations, this analysis is a timely reminder of how important it is to regularly review and improve our safety operations on campus," Squires said. Since the 2016-2019 timeframe of the audit, the university has reorganized its safety office, including creating a chief safety officer position; hiring a special assistant to the CSO who works directly with Student Affairs and EDI; developing the SafeU Student Ambassador Program and Public Safety Advisory Committee; and designating a police department liaison with Housing and Residential Education. The legislative audit, discussed at the State Legislative Audit Subcommittee Wednesday, found gaps in how the higher education system responded to legislation adopted in 2020 and 2021 which required statewide reporting of crimes committed in on-campus housing and a statewide study of campus law enforcement benefits and disadvantages. The university's housing crime report is posted here. An external audit of racism/bias and safety incidents reported in Housing and Residential Education facilities during fall semester is here. The audit mentioned three cases on the University of Utah's campus that were not reported to police in a timely way (page 19), including: an alleged assault and potential hate crime in 2021 and an incident of lewd behavior during a class in 2019. Among the audit's other findings: Auditors suggested two recommendations specific to the U, including streamlining multiple Clery Act crime reporting pathways and evaluating safety staff training. The Utah System of Higher Education responded to the audit in writing, noting that having several pathways for students and staff to report crimes is considered a best practice for trauma-informed victim advocacy. For example, many victim-survivors may not be comfortable reporting a sexual assault to a police officer, but might speak to a resident advisor from Housing and Residential Education, or a Wellness Center counselor. This press release was produced by The University of Utah. The views expressed here are the author's own.