Bill would centralize campus policing

Cornell rape case spurs call for SUNY reforms

Thomas C. Zambito

New York State Team USA TODAY NETWORK

The State University of New York police officers are using fallout from Cornell University’s investigation into a fraternity house sexual assault to build support for legislation that would lead to the most sweeping police reforms on New York campuses in nearly 30 years.

Central to the changes sought by the Police Benevolent Association of New York State is organizing SUNY’s 29 police departments into a single law enforcement agency whose 500 officers would answer to a police commissioner instead of a university or college president.

The idea was first broached over 15 years ago by a breakaway group of Democrats after testimony by campus police officers alleged some SUNY presidents were dissuading officers from making arrests that could injure their school’s reputation.

“The PBA believes that it is imperative for New York State to remove presidents from the chain of command in order to eliminate any actual or

A Cornell University Police vehicle is stationed on the Ithaca campus in New York on Oct. 1.

LAUREN

PETRACCA/REUTERS

perceived conflicts of interest between the campus’s reputation and the university police departments’ obligation to ensure that survivors receive the justice they deserve,” the organization said in a recent statement.

The PBA distanced itself from the Cornell campus police rape investigation, a probe that prompted Gov. Kathy Hochul to announce Oct. 29 that state police will take over sexual assault investigations on the Ivy League campus in Ithaca.

“Though we do not intend to disparage the men and women serving in the Cornell University Police Department, we believe it is imperative for the public to understand that they are employed by a private institution rather than the State of New York, they are not university police officers, and they are not represented by the PBA,” the statement added.

Cornell’s campus police are considered peace officers and do not share the same law enforcement powers as those who work on SUNY campuses.

Democrats lead legislative push

The legislation sponsored by Democrats Toby Ann Stavisky in the Senate and Karen McMahon in the Assembly would organize SUNY campus police under a command structure that mimics that used by the state police. Officers assigned to Stony Brook University, for instance, would share the same boss as those at SUNY Geneseo.

McMahon said the measure is among several that will take center stage in Albany in the coming months as lawmakers address issues raised by the Cornell investigation.

“I expect campus policing to be a major focus of the upcoming legislative session,” said McMahon, who represents a district in Western New York. “Additionally, there are many proposals to reform our laws to better support survivors of sexual assault and ensure accountability.”

On Oct. 29, Hochul announced that Cornell has agreed to refer sexual assault claims to the New York State Police for investigation.

“Every student deserves to feel safe on their campus,” Hochul said. “And when someone reports sexual assault, they deserve to be heard, treated with compassion, and know their allegations will be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated by law enforcement trained to support survivors.”

The last time state lawmakers tinkered with the SUNY police force was in the late 1990’s after a series of vicious crimes on or near SUNY campuses and neighboring states prompted lawmakers to act. At the University of Buffalo, sophomore Linda Yalem was killed in 1990 by Altemio Sanchez, the so-called “Bike Path Killer” who would be convicted in two other slayings, in 1992 and 2006.

In 1994, an armed student held dozens of students hostage for hours at the University at Albany. It was over a decade after Lehigh (Pa.) University freshman Jeanne Clery was raped and killed in her dormitory by a fellow student, a slaying that led to mandated reporting of crimes that occur on or near campuses across the nation.

In 1998, then-Gov. George Pataki signed legislation replacing SUNY’s peace officers with police officers under the command of university presidents. Officers for the first time would be able to conduct investigations off campus that impacted student safety.

After Kirk assassination, a call to action

The PBA has been pressing for centralization for over a decade and issued a similar call after the September 2025 assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus in Utah.

The PBA said then that centralization would allow university police departments to share information on “coordinated threats of violence, ‘swatting’ incidents, social media dares, sexual assault and harassment, suspect descriptions — all of which now occur in a communications vacuum across the 29 University Police-protected campuses.”

SUNY has not taken a position on the legislation proposed by Stavisky and McMahon.

“Our top priority is to ensure every SUNY student is able to learn and grow in a safe and secure environment throughout their academic journey,” a spokesman said in a statement. “We engage with law enforcement, elected officials, and state leaders to advance that goal and follow best practices for campus safety. We will continue to have meaningful discussions with all stakeholders and take action to provide our students with the protection they deserve.”

In August, SUNY’s Rockefeller Institute of Government issued a report on the proposal after interviewing officials on both sides of the debate.

Campus presidents and police chiefs expressed concern that centralization could remove local campus autonomy and damage relationships with students and local communities around public safety.

Advocates noted it could save money by eliminating campus leadership positions. Those might be offset, however, by systemwide public safety response units, the report found.

A 2009 bill sponsored by former state Sen. Jeff Klein said centralization would save $3 million per year. It was one of several legislative proposals to emerge from the hearings before the Independent Democratic Conference’s Senate Task Force on Government Efficiency. Stavisky was a co-sponsor.

College presidents’ ‘fiefdom’

Among those who testified was Peter Barry, a former PBA president who recently retired from the University at Albany police department.

“The university is a business, and when you have a business you want to have a good reputation,” said Barry. “Whereas if you go to the state police, their business is to write tickets, make arrests. … A lot of presidents look at it as having their own little fiefdom. They also have their goals and they’re going to appoint somebody to overlook their police department who’s going to have the same mindset.”

Barry said things have improved since he testified in 2010. Mandatory reporting and other measures have forced campus presidents to be more transparent about what occurs on their campuses.

But he remains committed to centralization, which he said will mean smaller departments receive the same training as larger departments.

Stavisky’s legislation passed the Senate in June and McMahon’s version is pending in the Assembly’s Higher Education committee. “The study by SUNY’s Rockefeller Institute gives us a strong foundation to build on,” Stavisky noted.

McMahon said a centralized command structure will encourage “a mutual- aid approach that allows campuses to help one another.

“By working together and sharing resources and expertise, we can build a more consistent and effective approach to campus safety across New York State,” she said.

Thomas C. Zambito covers energy, transportation and economic growth for the USA TODAY Network’s New York State team. He’s won dozens of state and national writing awards from the Associated Press, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Deadline Club and others during a decades-long career that’s included stops at the New York Daily News, The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Record of Hackensack. He can be reached at tzambito@lohud.com

The H. Carl McCall SUNY Building, seen Sept. 21, houses the administrative arm of the State University of New York system in downtown Albany.

EMILY BARNES/ USA TODAY NETWORK-NEW YORK