IUPD is always looking for ways to keep people safe, he said.
Following a blog post created by Associate Vice President for Public Safety and Institutional Assurance Mark Bruhn, Land said IUPD was planning on formally and routinely extending their police presence off campus to places similar to where the aforementioned invasion ?occurred.
“We thought we could help add a little layer of protection,” ?Land said.
Though no specific routes could be cited, Land said the parameters will be stretched out a few blocks past campus boundaries.
IUPD Lieutenant Craig Munroe said this is not the first time the department has extended its work past campus property.
It’s been done for years.
IUPD has county-wide jurisdiction, Munroe said.
They work off campus frequently and collaborate with the Bloomington Police Department, who also has jurisdiction on campus, ?he said.
“We’re just expanding our responsibilities a little bit more,” ?he said.
Currently, IUPD patrols in four districts that meet at 10th Street and Jordan Avenue, he said. This area is what is covered by IUPD for statistical purposes such as crime report data.
“We’re moving off these hard boundaries,” Munroe said, explaining that the primary responsibility of IUPD is to protect students, both on and off campus.
Land said the expansion is a logical extension of what IUPD already covers, such as off-campus housing with high student populations.
“There are areas of overlap that make sense,” ?he said.
Land said this is by no means meant to imply that BPD does not do a great job in its jurisdiction.
“City helps us, (and) we like to help city,” Munroe said, explaining that IUPD and BPD train and work together frequently.
There are no jurisdictional fights, he said.
“People want to know their students are going to be safe,” Munroe said.
Along with the extended patrol routes, Land said IUPD also offers several self-defense classes that run when enough students are interested to fill a course.
“These are the kinds of resources we’d like students to know exist,” Land said.
Land said IUPD wants to be more than just generic uniforms behind the tinted windows of squad cars.
Munroe said the class, the Rape Aggression Defense System, is geared toward teaching women defense tactics.
Land said IUPD is constantly examining what they do and what they can offer the community to make themselves more ?effective.
After all of the attention that events of this past weekend received, he said it seemed an appropriate time to remind people what IUPD is doing to look out for their safety, as well as provide them with a tangible change in the patrol parameters.
Land said this is the time to show people what resources IUPD has and also that they take issues like this very seriously.
Munroe said IUPD is doing all that it can to ensure the safety of the University’s students.
“It’s information people need to have,” he said.
