Facebook Story of the Day: How do campus and local police work together?
MARQUETTE -- Campus and local police help each other out no matter what the issue is.
If campus police, like NMU, feel the situation is life threatening, like domestic violence, a bomb threat, or even if someone is creating a potential safety hazard, they will call upon city police for back up.
Detective Michael Wasie with the Marquette Police Department says that because we live in a small area, every agency comes together as a team.
"The county helps out, the campus helps out, the state helps out. We can go to 8 to 10 officers rather quickly, if for nothing else, to either solve a situation or hold a situation down until we can bring more resources available," says Detective Wasie.
So what are the restrictions that campus police, like NMU, have? They have no restrictions because they are state certified officers.
What about traffic stops? One of the most common misconceptions people have is that NMU officers cannot pull you over if you're crossing from a college street into a city street, which they can.
NMU Officer Shirley Clark recently stopped a driver that was leaving campus for having an expired tag. The driver questioned why she stopped him.
"I explained to him we are sworn police officers, certified by the State of Michigan, and that we are deputized by Marquette County. He seemed to have a little better understanding," says Clark.
At Michigan Tech University, Deputy Chief Brian Cadwell says they all have the same authority.
"The responsibilities and requirements are the same; we have to qualify annually with our fire arms and attend mandatory training services from time to time," says Cadwell.
The agencies are so close that the Marquette City Police share their dog with campus police and other agencies to assist in drug and tracking searches.