Jefferson State Community College Birmingham, AL Campus Police Research Paper

Jefferson State Community College Birmingham, AL Campus Police - Research Paper Example This essay will review the campus police department at the Jefferson State Community College Birmingham, addressing several factors about the police department. These factors include issues such as the jurisdiction that the department covers, the primary crime problems and measures taken to prevent them, the campus crime trends over the past five years, how the department interacts with other law enforcement agencies, qualifications of officers in the department, training and certification of the officers and campus statistics among other issues. Introduction Campus or university police in the US and other countries are sworn law enforcement agents deployed to colleges and universities with a view to provide protection in the campus and its environs, and persons who visit, work or live in it. In Jefferson State Community College, the Jefferson State Police Department is tasked with upholding law and order in the community. These officers are sworn personnel who work in collaboration with campus security officers to contain and prevent crimes and civil unrest problems such as riots and other unruly behavior by students in and around the campus premises. While campus police sometimes employ and train students to serve as escorts to other students, campus police in Jefferson State Community College have the ultimate task of ensuring overall security throughout the entire campus. Jefferson State Community College campus police have immeasurable merit in the performance of their duties within the diverse college community. Discussion Jurisdiction Covered by the Campus Police Department The Jefferson State Community College campus police has jurisdiction over all accidents that take place on campus grounds. The campus police are tasked with completing all the necessary accident reports necessitated by state and federal law. In addition, the campus police assist students who encounter vehicular problems while on campus grounds. In addition, the campus police departmen t entails the protection of life and property within the campus. This encompasses students and college faculty and the college’s property, as well as individuals’ property (JSCC, 2011). It is also within the campus police jurisdiction to keep up a successful and efficient parking system within the campus and maintain a viable traffic system that allows for easy movement in and around the college premises. The police also provide driving directions for those who work, visit, or live on the college premises. It is also the campus police department’s work to report serious crimes to law enforcement agencies and assist the latter in conducting investigations. Moreover, the campus police officers, who have fully-fledged arresting powers, ensure law and order by arresting disorderly and unruly members of the college community and presenting them to the school’s disciplinary committee. The Jefferson State Community College campus police are also mandated with th e response, investigation, as well as prosecution of criminal indignations that take place on campus grounds. Crime Problems and Preventative Measures The predominant crime problems within the campus are burglary, road accidents, possession and distribution of drugs, disorderly conduct and possession of firearms. In order to prevent the incident of in-campus road accidents, the campus requires that all students