Beyond the Border: Defining the Modern Campus Safety Geography
For many families, a university campus feels like a cocoon—a protected environment separated from the outside world. Parents often assume that once their student steps onto school grounds, they are under the university’s singular protective umbrella.
As a Public Safety Executive, I know the reality is far more complex. The modern campus spreads out beyond the edge of grass and sidewalks. Students move fluidly between dorms, off-campus apartments, local coffee shops, and city streets. These streets often traverse an urban campus, providing access for students, faculty, staff, visitors, and the public alike.
For university administration, the challenge is liability and jurisdiction. For parents, the challenge is understanding exactly who is coming when 911 is called. To navigate this, we must understand the difference between Federal Reporting (Clery) and Operational Safety (Patrols).
The "Clery Geography": What the Law Sees
The Clery Act is a powerful tool for transparency, but it is also widely misunderstood. It requires institutions to disclose crime statistics, but only within specific geographic categories. As outlined in federal guidelines, a university is responsible for reporting crimes in three particular areas:
On-Campus: Buildings and property owned or controlled by the institution.
Public Property: Thoroughfares, streets, and sidewalks immediately adjacent to campus.
Non-Campus Buildings: Properties owned or controlled by recognized student organizations (like off-campus fraternities) or used for educational purposes.
The Strategic Gap:
Focusing solely on legal definitions overlooks areas such as private apartments and nightlife districts, which require a broader safety strategy beyond the law's scope.
No Campus is an Island
Operational excellence requires looking beyond the map. A university police department that isolates itself within the official "Clery Geography" is failing to see the whole picture.
Safety is not an accident; it is the result of strategic planning and resource allocation. The most effective departments recognize that their responsibility extends to where the students are, not just where the classrooms are.
Inter-Agency Collaboration becomes critical. A high-performance department does not operate in a silo. It establishes robust Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with local municipal police. These agreements ensure that:
Jurisdictional lines do not delay emergency response.
Information is shared seamlessly between the campus and the city police.
Resources are combined for crisis response.
The Temple University Model: Operationalizing Jurisdiction
When I led Public Safety at Temple University, our police officers held jurisdiction extending 500 yards beyond campus property—a mandate codified by Pennsylvania law for universities with certified police forces. This wasn't just policy; it was operational reality handled by well-trained, highly professional officers.
We patrolled the campus and the surrounding neighborhoods where students and residents lived side by side. Crucially, our APCO-certified dispatchers recognized the importance of seamless communication. Our dispatching system was directly integrated with the Philadelphia Police system, ensuring that a call for help was never lost in translation.
Collaboration extended to the command level. Temple Police supervisors coordinated resources daily with their Philadelphia Police counterparts. We even established supplemental city patrols, underwritten by the University and directed through ongoing joint reviews by senior leadership from both agencies. Furthermore, we partnered with Allied Universal to augment our sworn officers with security officers on bikes and foot.
Coordination of these safety resources had to be stellar. It proved that safety doesn't stop at the property line.
From Anxiety to Advocacy: The "Site Visit" Questions
We cannot eliminate every risk, but we can choose institutions that prioritize preparation. When vetting a university, families and stakeholders must ask questions that reveal the operational reality:
Ask about Jurisdiction: "Does the university police patrol extend to off-campus housing areas where students actually live, or do they stop at the campus edge?"
Ask about Collaboration: "Do you have an active MOU with the local city police? How do those agencies communicate during a crisis?"
Check the Narrative: When reviewing the Annual Security Report (ASR), look beyond the numbers. Does the narrative openly discuss strategies for the surrounding community, or does it strictly adhere to the minimum reporting requirement?
Key Takeaway
Neither a fence nor a federal definition defines the "border" of campus safety. The university's partnerships with the campus and surrounding communities define it. Proper safety has no boundary.
