Responsibility of the
Campus Police:
The Department has primary responsibility for
safety and law enforcement on the campus. The Department works closely with the
entire College community to ensure that programs and services are
systematically coordinated to promote and enhance a safe environment. The Department
officers patrol the campus and answer both emergency and non-emergency calls on
a 24-hour basis throughout the calendar year. The Campus Police Officers are
sworn Special State Police Officers and Deputy Sheriffs with authority to
conduct investigations and to arrest individuals if warranted. The Department’s
staff also includes Institutional Security Officers who secure the academic
buildings. In addition, the Department is equipped with cameras that monitor
the entrances to the residence halls, which are also equipped with card access
systems and staffed by desk attendants continuously throughout the academic
year. Currently the department is staffed by a Chief, three Lieutenants, two
Sergeants, eight patrol officers, one institutional protection officer, and three
civilian dispatchers, along with several part time employees.
Training of Campus Police
Officers:
All Campus Police Officers attend an extensive
16-week Massachusetts Special State Police Academy located in New Braintree,
MA. In addition, every police officer is required to attend 3 days of
in-service training on an annual basis. Many of our officers are also trained
through the Massachusetts Criminal Justice Training Council Reserve
Intermittent Police Academy. Officers are also trained in specialized areas
such as Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, R.A.D. (Rape Aggression Defense),
Drug Identification, Supervisor Management School, Massachusetts Emergency
Management Agency Planning, Court Prosecution, and Crime Prevention.
The Department
handles all law enforcement duties in conjunction with the campus and also
patrols the streets and areas contiguous to the College traveled by students
and faculty to and from the campus to area parking lots and public
transportation locations. Sworn members of the department are employed by
Framingham State College and serve the institution as police officers.
It is not the
policy of the agency to infringe upon the primary responsibility of other
agencies including the Framingham Police Department and Massachusetts State
Police in areas not owned, used or occupied by the College. However, officers
maintain a close working relationship with those agencies and cooperate routinely
on police responses in the area.
Sworn police
officers of the Department are sworn in by the Massachusetts State Police as
Special State Police Officers granting the "same power to make arrests as
regular police officers for any criminal offense committed in or upon lands or
structures owned, used or occupied by such College…" Subsequent to their
appointment, officers are also sworn in as deputy sheriffs of Middlesex County,
allowing the officers to perform police functions on the public ways of the
county. Officers are also charged with the responsibility of performing parking
enforcement on the campus property, as well as the Town of Framingham public
ways.
The Department
enjoys a close working relationship with the Framingham Police Department, Massachusetts
State Police, the Middlesex County District Attorney's office and District
Court officials, Massachusetts Attorney General's office and several other city
and town agencies on court proceedings, investigations and matters pertaining
to more than one agency of the commonwealth or a surrounding municipal
authority.