Source: www.roguegovernment.com

By: Lee Rogers

A new bill proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives seeks to take federal control over the security of College and University campuses across the nation. House Resolution 748 or the CAMPUS Safety Act of 2009’ would provide grants to institutions of higher education and other nonprofit organizations to assist in carrying out a myriad of functions pertaining to standardizing campus security across the country. This is yet another attempt by the federal government to centralize even more control over any sort of local or community agency pertaining to campus public safety and law enforcement.

Section 3021 subsection (a), authorizes the Director of Office of Community Oriented Policing Services to establish a National Center for Campus Public Safety to perform various functions outlined later in the bill. Below is the section in its entirety.

‘(a) Authority To Establish and Operate Center-

‘(1) IN GENERAL- The Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services is authorized to establish and operate a National Center for Campus Public Safety (referred to in this section as the ‘Center’).

‘(2) GRANT AUTHORITY- The Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services is authorized to award grants to institutions of higher education and other nonprofit organizations to assist in carrying out the functions of the Center required under subsection (b).

Section 3021 subsection (b) provides the functions that this new National Center for Campus Public Safety will be authorized to perform. To summarize they include the following functions.

Provide education to campus public safety agencies.

To provide research to supposedly strengthen the safety and security of campuses.

To identify policies, procedures and best practices for campus safety.

To develop protocols in conjunction with the Attorney General, Secretary of Homeland Security and a myriad of other government entities to respond to man-made emergencies or dangerous events involving a threat to the health or safety of the campus community.

To promote and develop the dissemination of information pertaining to behavior threat assessments on college campuses.

Develop standardized formats and models amongst public safety organizations and mental health agencies.

Undoubtedly, the agenda of the bill is to centralize control over campus security and the fact that they would try to promote and develop dissemination of information pertaining to behavior threat assessments screams of something you'd see in George Orwell's novel 1984.

The entire subsection is below.

‘(1) provide quality education and training for campus public safety agencies of institutions of higher education and the agencies’ collaborative partners, including campus mental health agencies;

‘(2) foster quality research to strengthen the safety and security of institutions of higher education;

‘(3) serve as a clearinghouse for the identification and dissemination of information, policies, procedures, and best practices relevant to campus public safety, including off-campus housing safety, the prevention of violence against persons and property, and emergency response and evacuation procedures;

‘(4) develop protocols, in conjunction with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Education, State, local, and tribal governments and law enforcement agencies, private and nonprofit organizations and associations, and other stakeholders, to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from, natural and man-made emergencies or dangerous situations involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of the campus community;

‘(5) promote the development and dissemination of effective behavioral threat assessment and management models to prevent campus violence;

‘(6) coordinate campus safety information (including ways to increase off-campus housing safety) and resources available from the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Education, State, local, and tribal governments and law enforcement agencies, and private and nonprofit organizations and associations;

‘(7) increase cooperation, collaboration, and consistency in prevention, response, and problem-solving methods among law enforcement, mental health, and other agencies and jurisdictions serving institutions of higher education;

‘(8) develop standardized formats and models for mutual aid agreements and memoranda of understanding between campus security agencies and other public safety organizations and mental health agencies; and

‘(9) report annually to Congress and the Attorney General on activities performed by the Center during the previous 12 months.

In addition, the bill also mandates that the new agency consult with the Attorney General, Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Education of each state in order to utilize resources that they may have available. In other words, we will likely see the Department of Homeland Security involved in many aspects of any centrally controlled campus security program.

‘(c) Coordination With Available Resources- In establishing the Center, the Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services shall--

‘(1) consult with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Education, and the Attorney General of each State; and

‘(2) coordinate the establishment and operation of the Center with campus public safety resources that may be available within the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Education.