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Interesting. So you are saying it has to do with essentially restricting or retarding the flow of information that could be harmful to the University. Then I w

by larrys 13y ago

Interesting. So you are saying it has to do with essentially restricting or retarding the flow of information that could be harmful to the University. Then I would expect over time with the Internet that that would not be as effective as it was in years past before the Internet. Do we have any data on how this has changed now that anyone can broadcast anything and get attention? I would expect that if the primary reason for existence of the police force was to control the information flow as I think you suggest (which it could do quite easily pre internet) that we should see much more of this negative information has come out because it has a path. Has that been the case? (Serious question).

rdl 13y ago
Good question. I think it's more about having alternatives to official reporting channels so the stuff never actually gets reported, vs. hiding reports. But, we've seen citizen cameras as a huge force to accountability in cases of police abuse, too (Rodney King for a city PD; BART and Toronto for transit police, various people who came forward at Penn State after the Sandusky stuff blew the issue up there). So it seems plausible. I'm not saying the only thing the police do is hide rapes, it's that their essential differentiation vs. other LEOs would be to protect their employers from embarrassment which would be detrimental to the organization's mission, which rape would be. So the reason it exists as a distinct force is that, whereas they still spend a large percentage of their effort in duties totally in common with a city police force.
- saraid216 13y ago
  Really, leveling such an accusation at the university police is trying to deal with a symptom. Abolishing university police forces won't cause rape instances to decline appreciably, but it will accelerate the implosion of higher education as a whole. Precisely for the reasons you stated. Perhaps it would be better to look for a solution where universities are less motivated to compete for student head count, so that their police forces are less motivated to cover up incidents that would reduce it.

by larrys 13y ago

rdl 13y ago

Good question. I think it's more about having alternatives to official reporting channels so the stuff never actually gets reported, vs. hiding reports. But, we've seen citizen cameras as a huge force to accountability in cases of police abuse, too (Rodney King for a city PD; BART and Toronto for transit police, various people who came forward at Penn State after the Sandusky stuff blew the issue up there). So it seems plausible. I'm not saying the only thing the police do is hide rapes, it's that their essential differentiation vs. other LEOs would be to protect their employers from embarrassment which would be detrimental to the organization's mission, which rape would be. So the reason it exists as a distinct force is that, whereas they still spend a large percentage of their effort in duties totally in common with a city police force.

saraid216 13y ago
Really, leveling such an accusation at the university police is trying to deal with a symptom. Abolishing university police forces won't cause rape instances to decline appreciably, but it will accelerate the implosion of higher education as a whole. Precisely for the reasons you stated. Perhaps it would be better to look for a solution where universities are less motivated to compete for student head count, so that their police forces are less motivated to cover up incidents that would reduce it.