• Governor's final report recommends a change that would allow more Wisconsin colleges to have sworn police forces
• Sworn police forces have the authority to make arrests and access criminal information like outstanding warrants
• DPS said it has no plans to implement this type of police force
• This recommendation has not been introduced to the legislature since the task force

An issue that has been debated for decades at college campuses across the country may resurface at Marquette, thanks to the recently released final report from the Governor's Task Force on Campus Safety.

The issue concerns the different policing and security authority given to private Wisconsin colleges and University of Wisconsin system schools. Under current statutory law, only UW schools are granted the authority to establish sworn, or commissioned, police forces on their campuses.

The lack of police authority at Wisconsin's technical and private colleges may provide several "potential barriers" to protecting individual campuses, the report said.

Currently, campus security departments that do not have a sworn police force lack the authority to arrest suspects or gain access to certain criminal information. The task force recommended that the Wisconsin Legislature grant all Wisconsin colleges the option to exercise police authority.

Department of Public Safety Chief Larry Rickard was on the task force that made the recommendation. However, he said DPS has no current plans to seek the establishment of a sworn police force, especially since existing state statutes still prevent them from doing so.

Rickard said DPS presently prefers to take on the role of intervention and advocacy for students.

"We like to think that we are really more 'educators' than 'police,' " Rickard said. "I like having the flexibility to correct inappropriate behavior without necessarily causing legal ramifications that could be harmful to students later in their professional lives."

Rickard also said he views DPS's current relationship with the Milwaukee Police Department as "seamless." DPS and MPD currently exchange criminal related information on a daily basis and remain an effective team in felony apprehensions, he said.

"Why would we fix something that isn't broken?" Rickard said. "MPD doesn't look at us any differently not being sworn."

But Richard Zevitz, associate professor of social and cultural sciences, said he sees many significant advantages in a commissioned force. According to Zevitz, DPS has "outgrown the public safety label" because they are armed and as well trained as commissioned officers are.

"This really all comes down to one thing, and that is deterrence," Zevitz said. "We would take a good public safety department and make it into a good law enforcement agency. If that doesn't have a deterrent effect on the criminal population around Marquette, I don't know what would."

Justin Phillips, a junior in the College of Communication and an off-campus senator for the Marquette University Student Government, said he met with Zevitz to discuss the benefits of commissioning DPS officers. Phillips said a good argument could be made in favor of commissioning, especially if it allows officers to access necessary information regarding warrants and criminal records faster.

"However, I understand that there would probably be student backlash to this," Phillips said. "DPS's biggest concern right now seems to be keeping students safe versus getting them into trouble."

Phillips said while the commissioning of DPS officers could strain their current high-quality relationship with students, he's not sure if that outweighs a possible increase in student safety.

Rickard said the task force simply wanted to recommend a statutory language change that made the option of having a sworn police force available to every Wisconsin campus. Campuses would need to implement this only if officials feel it is necessary or wish to do so, he said.

"However, whether the law is introduced and passes is something our state legislators will have to decide sometime down the road," Rickard said.

Zevitz said he would like to see a possible public forum about the issue if the legislature takes the task force recommendation.

"If reform is going to happen, it's going to happen from the students," he said.