The State University of New York Police Departments are full service and community oriented police agencies. The Departments pride themselves on a level of professionalism, courtesy and respect that meets the specialized needs of our college settings. In keeping with the educational mission of SUNY, the departments encourage their members to continue their professional development through additional education and training.
The State University Police departments are fully sworn police departments with the authority to investigate and enforce all laws and regulations. Their police authority is specifically listed in the New York State Criminal Procedure Law §1.2, subsection 34(s) and the New York Education Law §355, subsection 2.
According to New York’s Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) “Accreditation is a progressive and contemporary way of helping police agencies evaluate and improve their overall performance. It provides formal recognition that an organization meets or exceeds general expectations of quality in the field. Accreditation acknowledges the implementation of policies that are conceptually sound and operationally effective.
The Accreditation Program is comprised of over 130 standards and is divided into three categories. Standards in the Administrative section have provisions for such topics as agency organization, fiscal management, personnel practices, and records. Training standards encompass basic and in-service instruction, as well as training for supervisors and specialized or technical assignments. Operations standards deal with such critical and litigious topics as high-speed pursuits, roadblocks, patrol, and unusual occurrences”.
SUNY Law Enforcement has partnered with DCJS to further the Accreditation Program by providing four program manager workshops at locations across New York to 186 law enforcement officials, 64 of whom were from 24 separate SUNY police agencies. Beyond the State University, 118 law enforcement officials from 74 different municipal police agencies were also able to benefit from the SUNY hosted training.
Thirteen campuses have achieved accreditation through the second quarter of 2016: University at Albany, Alfred State College, Binghamton University, University at Buffalo, Buffalo State College, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Cortland, Fredonia State, SUNY Geneseo, Stony Brook University, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Oswego, and SUNY Potsdam. Recognizing the benefits of accreditation to the campus communities, Chancellor Zimpher has directed that all SUNY University Police Departments become accredited by the end of 2020.