Campus arrest is a topic that has induced mixed reactions from the Rollins community. From a legal standpoint, it makes perfect sense. If a student commits an offense the local police have every right to arrest them, because that is what the law dictates.
While Campus Security has jurisdiction over the students, if need be, they will allow the police to intervene as stated on page five of the Clery Act Compliance: “… in cases where local law enforcement is involved and there is an active investigation, Campus Security will yield and defer to the investigating agency.”
However, some students disagree, believing Campus Security alone should deal with offenses committed by students.
After all, since day one, they have been told by campus administrators to treat Security as if they themselves were the police. “If it’s on campus, I think that Campus Security should deal with it to the fullest extent possible,” Mary Mackey ’14 said.
Others believe that it makes sense for Campus Security to occasionally involve the police. “From a legal standpoint, Campus Security is not the police. They’re a private group … Campus Security can’t arrest you … the actual police will arrest you,” said Freshman Lucas Trimble.
So, for instances involving drugs or alcohol, especially including minors, it would only be logical for Campus Security to ask the local police for assistance. However, for offenses such as a breaking a school code, it would be unnecessary to involve the police, and Campus Security should handle it to the best of their ability.
As was said before, not all concur with that sentiment. There seems to be a misconception that college students are exempt from federal law, a point that Leon Hayner, Director of Residential Life, points out, “Sometimes students … believe that somehow college is a safety net.”
This is not always the case, as proven by the Rollins crime statistics, which can be located on the Campus Security webpage under the Clery Act Compliance heading.
These statistics will show that while it is rare for an actual arrest to occur, they are not completely surprising. In 2008, there were 34 referrals for drug law violations, but only nine arrests.
Again in 2008, there were 382 Liquor Law Violations with only one arrest. Obviously, Campus Security does not want to get anyone in trouble, but that still does not mean that they will overlook their obligations to the Rollins community. Hayner himself admitted that he is also, “always a little sad for the students.”
So while it may seem like campus arrests are unjustified uses of police force, Campus Security only wishes to ensure the safety of all the students; they are not out to get any one individual. They are just doing their job. In fact they often times go out of their way to ensure the safety of the students here.
The best advice anyone can give is to be smart and stay out of trouble; do not give Security a reason to call the police, and next year, there will be less crime statistics to report. If you keep the noise down and do not bother anyone, then you should be able to sail through you Rollins career free of arrests.
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