July 7, 2008
NewsLanc.com
1377-C Spencer Avenue
Lancaster, PA 17603
Re: Limits of Campus Police Authority
Dear Mr. Field:
You asked that we review and provide information to you on the limits of campus police authority.
I. Powers of Campus Police
Pennsylvania law empowers campus police through three statutes: (1) 22 Pa. C.S. � 501, Appointment by nonprofit corporations; (2) 71 P.S. � 646, Capitol Police, Commonwealth Property Police and Campus Police; and (3) 71 P.S. � 646.1, Campus police powers and duties. These provisions provide as follows:
� 501. Appointment by nonprofit corporations
(a) APPOINTMENT AUTHORIZED.-- Any nonprofit corporation, as defined in 15 Pa.C.S. Pt. II Subpt. C (relating to nonprofit corporations) maintaining a cemetery or any buildings or grounds open to the public, or organized for the prevention of cruelty to children or aged persons, or one or more of such purposes, may apply to the court of common pleas of the county of the registered office of the corporation for the appointment of such persons as the corporation may designate to act as policemen for the corporation. The court, upon such application, may by order appoint such persons, or as many of them as it may deem proper and necessary, to be such policemen.
(b) OATH OF OFFICE. --Every policeman so appointed shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe the oath required by the sixth article of the Constitution of Pennsylvania. Such oath, together with the decree and order of the court, shall be recorded by the recorder of deeds of each county in which it is intended that such policemen shall act.
(c) POWERS.-- Such policemen, so appointed, shall severally possess and exercise all the powers of a police officer in this Commonwealth, in and upon, and in the immediate and adjacent vicinity of, the property of the corporation. Policemen so appointed for a corporation organized for the prevention of cruelty to children or aged persons, or one or more of such purposes, shall severally possess and exercise all the powers of a police officer in any county in which they may be directed by the corporation to act, and are hereby authorized to arrest persons for the commission of any offense of cruelty to children or aged persons. The keepers of jails and other places of detention in any county of this Commonwealth shall receive all persons arrested by such policemen for purposes of detention until they are dealt with according to law. Every policeman appointed under this section, when on duty, shall wear a metallic shield with the words "special officer" and the name of the corporation for which appointed inscribed thereon.
(d) COMPENSATION. --The compensation of such policemen shall be paid by the corporation for which the policemen are appointed, as may be agreed upon between the corporation and such policemen.
(e) TERMINATION OF APPOINTMENT. --When any corporation shall no longer require the services of any policeman, it shall file a notice to that effect, under its corporate seal, in the office of each recorder of deeds where the court decree and order of appointment of such policeman were recorded. The recorder of deeds shall note this information upon the margin of the record where the court decree and order were recorded, and thereupon the powers of such policeman shall terminate. It shall be the duty of the recorder of deeds to notify the clerk of the court by which such policeman was appointed of the termination of such appointment in such county.
71 P.S. � 646 (2007)� 646. (Adm. Code � 2416). Capitol Police, Commonwealth Property Police and Campus Police
The Capitol Police, Commonwealth Property Police and the Security or Campus Police of all State colleges and universities, State aided or related colleges and universities and community colleges shall have the power, and their duty shall be:
(a) To enforce good order in State buildings and on State grounds in Dauphin County, in the Pittsburgh State Office Building and the grounds, in the Philadelphia State Office Building and the grounds and in the grounds and buildings of all State colleges and universities, State aided or related colleges and universities and community colleges;
(b) To protect the property of the Commonwealth in State grounds and buildings in Dauphin County, in the Pittsburgh State Office Building and grounds, in the Philadelphia State Office Building and grounds and in the grounds and buildings of all State colleges and universities, State aided or related colleges and universities and community colleges;
(c) To exclude all disorderly persons from the premises of the State Capitol, State buildings in Dauphin County, the Pittsburgh State Office Building and the Philadelphia State Office Building and from the grounds and buildings of all State colleges and universities, State aided or related colleges and universities and community colleges;
(d) In the performance of their duties to adopt whatever means may be necessary;
(e) To exercise the same powers as are now or may hereafter be exercised under authority of law or ordinance by the police of the cities of Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, municipalities in Dauphin County wherein State buildings are located and in municipalities wherein said colleges, universities and community colleges are located:
(f) Deleted by amendment. 1965, Sept. 28, P.L. 553, � 4.
(g) To order off said grounds and out of said buildings all vagrants, loafers, trespassers, and persons under the influence of liquor, and, if necessary, remove them by force, and, in case of resistance, carry such offenders before an alderman, justice of the peace or magistrate and
(h) To arrest any person who shall damage, mutilate or destroy the trees, plants, shrubbery, turf, grass-plots, benches, buildings or structures, or commit any other offense within State buildings on State grounds in Dauphin County, the Pittsburgh State Office Building and grounds, and the Philadelphia State Office Building and grounds, the Executive Mansion, and the grounds and buildings of all State colleges and universities, State aided or related colleges and universities and community colleges, and carry the offender before the proper alderman, justice of the peace or magistrate and prefer charges against him under the laws of the Commonwealth.
(i) Security and Campus Police shall exercise their powers and perform their duties only on the premises of the State colleges and universities, State aided or related colleges and universities and community colleges by or for which they are employed and only and after they have completed a course of training including crisis intervention training and riot control as approved by the Department of Education except, that Campus Police employed by State owned colleges and universities located in any municipalities, other than cities of the first class or second class, are authorized, in emergency situations occurring within the municipality, upon the request of the mayor or other executive authority and under the direction of the local law enforcement authorities, to exercise those powers and perform those duties conferred pursuant to this section within the municipality for the limited purpose of aiding local authorities in emergency situations. When so acting, the Campus Police shall be acting within the scope of the authority of this act and are, at all times, State employees of this Commonwealth and entitled to all the rights and benefits accruing therefrom.
71 P.S. � 646.1 (2007) Campus police powers and duties
(a) Campus police shall have the power and their duty shall be:
(1) to enforce good order on the grounds and in the buildings of the college or university;
(2) to protect the grounds and buildings of the college or university;
(3) to exclude all disorderly persons from the grounds and buildings of the college or university;
(4) to adopt whatever means may be necessary for the performance of their duties;
(5) to exercise the same powers as are now or may hereafter be exercised under authority of law or ordinance by the police of the municipalities wherein the college or university is located, including, but not limited to, those powers conferred pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. Ch. 89 Subch. D (relating to municipal police jurisdiction);
(6) to prevent crime, investigate criminal acts, apprehend, arrest and charge criminal offenders and issue summary citations for acts committed on the grounds and in the buildings of the college or university and carry the offender before the proper alderman, justice of the peace, magistrate or bail commissioner and prefer charges against him under the laws of this Commonwealth. Except when acting pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. Ch. 89 Subch. D, campus police shall exercise these powers and perform these duties only on the grounds or within 500 yards of the grounds of the college or university. For the purposes of applying the provisions of 42 Pa.C.S. Ch. 89 Subch. D, the grounds and within 500 yards of the grounds of the college or university shall constitute the primary jurisdiction of the campus police;
(7) to order off the grounds and out of the buildings of the college or university all vagrants, loafers, trespassers and persons under the influence of liquor and, if necessary, remove them by force and, in case of resistance, carry such offenders before an alderman, justice of the peace, bail commissioner or magistrate; and
(8) to arrest any person who damages, mutilates or destroys the trees, plants, shrubbery, turf, grass plots, benches, buildings and structures or commits any other offense on the grounds and in the buildings of the college or university and carry the offender before the proper alderman, justice of the peace, bail commissioner or magistrate and prefer charges against him under the laws of this Commonwealth.
(b) Campus police and municipalities are authorized to enter into an agreement with the municipality wherein the college or university is located to exercise concurrently those powers and to perform those duties conferred pursuant to a cooperative police service agreement in accordance with 42 Pa.C.S. � 8953 (relating to Statewide municipal police jurisdiction). When so acting, the campus police of the college or university shall have the same powers, immunities and benefits granted to police officers in 42 Pa.C.S. Ch. 89 Subch. D.
(c) When acting within the scope of the authority of this section, campus police are at all times employes of the college or university and shall be entitled to all of the rights and benefits accruing therefrom.
(d) As used in this section:
"Campus police" means all law enforcement personnel employed by a State-aided or State-related college or university who have successfully completed a campus police course of training approved under 53 Pa.C.S. Ch. 21 Subch. D (relating to municipal police education and training).
"College" or "university" means all State-aided or State-related colleges and universities.
"Grounds" means all lands and buildings owned, controlled, leased or managed by a college or university.
Since the language of these laws conflicts in several areas, specific outcomes could be different depending on whether the Court focuses on the � 501 language or the � 646 language. Section 646 and � 646.1 language should control, for as the Superior Court has recognized, �the specific provisions of 71 P.S. � 646 take precedence over the more general language in 22 Pa. C.S. � 501(c), which we find inapplicable to [cases concerning the powers of university police].� Commonwealth v. Croushore, 703 A.2d 546, 547 n.2 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1997). For arrests to be valid under Sections 646 and 646.1, the college or university must be �State aided or related�, 71 P.S. � 646; 71 P.S. � 646.1(8)(d). As the court did in Croushore, courts have applied � 646 to campus police cases and mostly ignored the more general language of � 501.
II. Premises Case Law Preempted By Statute
Prior to the passage of � 646.1 Pennsylvania interpreted � 646 to limit the powers of campus police to �the premises.� Croushore, 703 A.2d at 547. Croushore was submitted to the court on October 20, 1997, and � 646.1 went into effect on November 26, 1997. Accordingly, the court did not consider the specific implications of � 646.1. In Croushore, the court overturned a sentence of a driver found guilty of running a red light because the University of Pittsburgh police who cited him did not have �jurisdiction over motorists on a municipal street abutting the University.� Id. at 546. Croushore was decided in 1997, contemporaneously with the passage of � 646.1 that defines the powers and duties of campus police even more specifically. This new law gives jurisdiction to campus police covering all campus �ground and within 500 yards of the grounds of the college or university.� 71 P.S. � 646.1(6). �Grounds� are defined as �all lands and buildings owned, controlled, leased or managed by a college or university.� 71 P.S. � 646.1(8)(d). This statutory empowerment resulted from case law which had stated that, �A college or university is not limited to academic and residential areas.� Commonwealth v. Mitchell, 381 Pa. Super. 592, 601 (1989).
No case law discusses the effect of 646.1(6) on cases like Croushore that specifically limited university police to making arrests and citations on university property, preventing them from acting on adjacent roads. The text is clear enough that the statute has survived ten years without question, and it must be presumed that campus police now have power to make arrests for criminal acts within 500 yards of campus grounds, as the statute states.
III. The University Must Be State-Aided or Related
The loophole, if one exists, in the growing power of campus police lies in the requirement that colleges and universities must be either �State-aided or State-related� to have police with these broad powers. 71 P.S. � 646.1(8)(d); see 71 P.S. � 646. Both � 646 and � 646.1 include the requirement that the university be State-aided. In Snyder v. Commonwealth, the court found that since there was no proof that Carnegie Melon University (CMU) was State-aided, the arrest by a CMU policeman was invalid because �State-aided� meant more than merely receiving some state appropriations. See Snyder v. Commonwealth, 163 Pa. Commw. 178, 183 (1994). Rather �State-aided� has a specific meaning in the State�s Administrative Code. �State-aided� is defined under 22 Pa. Code � 40.31-33, and such status includes the requirement that the college have a signed agreement with the State Department of Education. 22 Pa. Code � 40.33; See Snyder, 163 Pa. Commw. at 183-84. Likewise being a �State-related� university has specific eligibility requirements detailed in 22 Pa. Code � 40.21-26. If a university has not met the requirements to be eligible as either a �State-aided� or �State-related� university or the State has failed to prove that those qualifications are met, then under Snyder, the police action would be invalid.
Should a college not be state �aided or related,� the Snyder analysis is not one upon which we would recommend relying, however. The court decided Snyder prior to the enactment of � 646.1. Because of the general language of � 501 stating that the campus police have power in the �immediate and adjacent vicinity� of the property, it is likely the court would look to �646.1 for assistance with interpreting the language of � 501. We believe a court would conclude that Fry�s residence is part of the campus property and that campus police may exercise their authority up to at least 500 yards from campus property. The most effective way to challenge this expansion of power would be through the legislature. Private colleges are subject to no oversight or pecuniary constraints as state-funded universities are. The legislature can modify the behavior of a state university by threatening or cutting off its funding. It should follow that private colleges are entitled to less police authority because they are not as accountable to the people from which they ultimately derive such authority.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to review this situation.
Very truly yours,
