The New Hampshire Supreme Court recently ruled that public university police can legally make arrests. The case will not affect private institutions like Dartmouth, where Safety and Security lacks the power of law enforcement.
The decision affirmed a Durham District Court ruling in the case of State of New Hampshire v. Steven Diamond. In 1999, Diamond was arrested by University of New Hampshire's Public Safety Division officers during a protest against the Walt Disney Company.
Joshua Gordon, Diamond's defense lawyer, argued that Diamond's arrest was illegal because New Hampshire law enforcement statutes do not expressly give the university the power to have a police force. The statutes do say towns may have police forces, he said.
"Most states have statutes allowing universities to have police, but not New Hampshire," Gordon said.
But the government argued successfully that UNH police are officers of the state because they are officially sworn in and have all the powers of state police while on campus.
The UNH police force has been a division of the Durham police since 1979, when an agreement was made between UNH and the town of Durham, according to Durham Chief of Police Dave Kurz.
The university police have the same powers of regular town police: they can make arrests, drive patrol cars, carry guns and are sworn in as officers of the law.
"The 1979 agreement essentially conveys the university's police authority to their officers," Kurz said.
Because the New Hampshire Supreme Court made the ruling, there can not be an appeal.
Gordon was disappointed the court did not directly address the lack of laws dealing specifically with state universities, prompting him to file a motion for supplemental orders on Monday to receive judgment on the issue of a specific statute.
Gordon said the case boils down to finances. The court relied on laws which stipulate that towns have to employ police officers and pay them, he said. But the university pays its officers and the town does not financially contribute to the force, Gordon said.
"It's a money issue. Who should pay for law enforcement?" he asked.
Accountability of the UNH force is also central to the case. The officers are employees of the university and not the state, therefore they are not under the jursidiction of elected officials.
For this reason, Gordon worked with New Hampshire's American Civil Liberties Union on the case.
"If you have armed forces not accountable to civilian authorities, that's scary. The UNH police are untethered. These people [UNH officers] are not employees of Durham and UNH does not have governing authority," Gordon said.
Currently, the town is discussing whether to sever the relationship between the police groups or to consolidate them into one group.
"My recommendation is that they sever the relationship. I don't think the 1979 agreement is good for the town," Kurz said.
UNH's Student Council President Ken Kruger was neutral about the court's findings. He said the decision draws a distinction between the two local police forces, which was never made clear before.
Overall, Kruger believes the relationship between students and the university police will not change and the decision will not affect students negatively.
Kurz likewise said the ruling has not changed the relationship between the UNH and Durham police. "Over the years we have had a good working relationship with the university police, and hopefully that relationship has been enhanced," he said.
Rice said the ruling will not change law enforcement practices on the campus.
The College is not affected by the ruling because Dartmouth is a private institution.
Dartmouth's Safety and Security amounts to a private security company that is owned by the College. Officers are Dartmouth employees and do not have any state-enforced power, which explains why Hanover police deal with such matters as disorderly conduct and unlawful activity.
"Many years ago, S and S began looking like a police force, so they changed their image, partially by getting rid of cars with flashers and changing their uniforms," Hanover Police Chief Nick Giaccone said.
