By: Diane Benjamin
Illinois State University has its own police force.
Lately I’ve been hearing stories about the ISU police operating off campus. They patrol student housing that isn’t on campus and one citizens reported they were writing speeding tickets on Raab road – a long way from campus.
I requested information from ISU as to what authority they have off campus. FOIA:
– Policy, contracts, agreements etc allowing ISU Police to patrol/issue tickets/make arrests etc outside of the Illinois State University campus.
– Compensation provided by other jurisdictions if applicable
What I received:
task force 6-2 This is an intergovernmental agreement that Normal is NOT a party to:
I also received these two documents:
It looks to me like policing intensified after 9/11. Agreements were created for support in the case of emergencies or natural disasters. ISU receives no compensation when assisting other jurisdictions.
Apparently the ISU police can operate off campus, but they aren’t restricting themselves to emergencies and natural disasters. Maybe with the kids gone for summer they need something to do.
Other than creating income for their department, why are ISU police stopping cars on Raab road?
I’m swamped with other things, so if any readers want to look closely at the documents – please do. Let me know what you find.
Page 4, first full paragraph places limits where the members of this agreement participate ONLY when the requesting member’s resources are not enough to handle the emergency or disaster.
Just a guess, but perhaps they saw someone blow through a red light, you know, because traffic signals in this town are mere suggestions, or maybe they were speeding. They were doing what they should do when someone breaks the law. An officer could have witnessed it when they were returning, or traveling to, ISU’s storage facility on Northtown road. The same thing happens in Champaign/Urbana by UIUC police officers, and Carbondale by SIU police, etc…this is nothing new. I say go for it. If the town of Normal’s police department won’t ticket people for blowing through stoplights (again, just a guess), someone should!
I just HOPE they get ALL the people (now that students are mostly gone) that STILL drive and talk on their cellphone, as NEITHER Bloomington OR UPTOWN seems to enforce that law, as I see MANY people each day on their phones. Now THAT’S a way they could make money!