The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The fatal shooting of a Butler University police officer provided a reminder of how much campus law enforcement has evolved in the past decade, colleagues said.
All of Indiana’s state universities and most of its larger private colleges and universities have independent police departments, said Rusty Goodpaster, deputy director of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy.
“Over the last 10 years or so, the role has changed from part-time and security kinds of departments to full-fledged police departments,” he said.
The Butler officer, James Davis, 31, was shot Friday by a man he had stopped in the parking lot of Hinkle Fieldhouse on the campus. The suspected gunman, Kahdir Al Khattab, 26, also died after being shot later by Marion County sheriff’s deputies who had joined the search for him.
Butler in 1994 moved from a security force to a state-accredited police department. Its 16 officers receive the same training at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy that all Indiana police officers must undergo.
Davis completed the academy training earlier this year.
“They investigate crimes, carry weapons, issue tickets and make arrests, like any other police department,” said Marc Allan, a Butler spokesman.
The job of a university police officer is far more than that of “glorified baby-sitting,” said Lt. Jerry Minger of the Indiana University police in Bloomington.
“We train our officers to not ever fall into a false sense of security - that just because it is a university environment that there can’t be a dangerous element in the community,” Minger said.
Ball State University was rocked by the shooting deaths of two students in separate incidents last school year. In one case, a rookie campus policeman fatally shot a student who lunged at him.
This summer, Ball State’s police department purchased TASER stun guns, becoming the 127th university in the nation to arm its officers with the devices.
Butler police primarily are responsible for the campus of the 4,500-student liberal arts school, but also patrol neighboring residential areas.
“What we do is a dangerous business,” said Andy Ryan, the Butler’s deputy police chief. “We live in a beautiful community, we have a nice campus, but it’s an open campus, and there is nothing we can do to keep unwanted or dangerous people off the streets.”
Schools across the country struggle with what role campus police should play, said Bill Head, who lectures in the criminal justice department at Indiana University.
“There is a fine line between wanting to have a campus that is open and inviting and making sure students and staff are safe,” Head said. “Since 9-11, things have changed even more - with an emphasis on making it harder for intruders to get access to facilities.”