Bill May Extend Police Jurisdiction

The bill, which was approved by the N.C. General Assembly on Thursday and sent to Gov. Mike Easley for consideration, would allow trustees at any of the UNC-system schools to enter into agreements extending the jurisdiction of campus police officers.

The agreements would allow officers at one campus to enforce laws at any other consenting system school.

Easley's office did not comment on what action the governor would take.

Many campus police forces in the UNC system, including UNC-Chapel Hill, already have similar agreements with the town where the institution is located.

East Carolina University Police Sgt. Sheri Williams said the bill would allow officers to enforce the law more effectively. "It would be beneficial for occasions with a large crowd," she said.

Williams added that UNC-system police forces do not cooperate together often except in the case of large public events like football games.

"We currently work with the N.C. State (University) police about once a year during the (football) game," she said.

Williams said the inability of N.C. State police officers to enforce laws at ECU required officers to go around in pairs, one from each university, during N.C. State's football game at ECU or any other large event. "It's just a show of force," Williams said. "Without jurisdiction, the officer is just another body."

She said this limits how officers can respond to problem situations and restricts their power to arrest suspects.

Other UNC-system police officials stated that the bill is intended to clear up an existing statute on mutual aid that allows UNC-system schools to establish enforcement agreements with local and county police.

N.C. State Public Safety Director Tom Younce wrote in an e-mail, "The statute was introduced to make it clear that campus agencies may enter into mutual aid agreements with each other."

Rep. Carolyn Russell, R-Greene, said she agreed to co-sponsor the bill in the House largely because it was reasonable.

"It was fairly cut and dry," she said. "It made fairly good sense and wouldn't be used too much."

Russell said she thinks Easley will sign the bill since it could result in some cost savings for campuses during large events. "The alternative is to hire a private law enforcement agency."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.