Peace Officer is an additional status that may be granted certain employees in certain titles (e.g. Security Services Assistant, Campus Public Safety Officer, etc.) where the campus desires to give them peace officer authority.
Appointment as peace officer requires the administration of an oath of office. Peace Officers do not have the same level of authority as Police Officers and their peace officer duties are usually limited to very specifically assigned duties. For more information about the powers of Peace Officers see Article 2 (Peace Officers), Section 2.20 of the NYS Criminal Procedure Law.
In 1999 new University Police Officer titles were added to the New York State title structure. These titles require that appointees be sworn in as police officers. Appointees to these new titles must meet stringent appointment criteria and, upon being sworn in for such appointment, are fully empowered Police Officers. Consequently the need SUNY campuses have for appointing incumbents of other titles as peace officers has been significantly reduced if not eliminated.
For more information about the inclusion of University Police Officers in the definition of Police Officers see Article 1 (…Definition), Section 1.20, paragraph 34 of the NYS Criminal Just Law, particularly paragraph 34(s). Powers of Police Officers can be derived from reviewing the "Powers of Peace Officers" section of the Criminal Justice Law mentioned above.