South Carolina Code 59-116-30. Authority, powers, and duties of campus police officers
(1) preserve the peace, maintain order, and prevent unlawful use of force or violence or other unlawful conduct on the campuses of their respective institutions and protect all persons and property located there from injury, harm, and damage;
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 59-116-30
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Campus: means the grounds and buildings owned and occupied by a college or university for education purposes and streets and roads through and contiguous to the grounds. See South Carolina Code 59-116-10
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
(2) enforce and assist the officials of their respective institutions in the enforcement of the laws of the State and county and municipal ordinances, and the lawful regulations of the institution, and assist and cooperate with other law enforcement agencies and officers. Campus police officers shall exercise powers granted in this chapter only upon the real property owned by their respective institutions as defined in item (1) of § 59-116-10.
(B) Campus police officers may arrest persons outside the territory described in subsection (A) when the person arrested has committed a criminal offense within that territory, and the arrest is made during the person’s immediate and continuous flight from that territory.
(C) Safety and security departments created and operated by the boards of trustees of institutions under this chapter for the purposes of this chapter are campus police departments and the sworn campus police officers of the department are campus police officers.
(D) Campus police officers may designate and operate emergency vehicles and patrol cars in the manner provided by law for municipal and county law enforcement officers. Such a vehicle must bear distinctive and conspicuous lettering which reads "campus police" on the sides and rear of the vehicle.
The provisions of this chapter may not be construed as a diminution or modification of the authority or responsibility of a municipal police department, sheriff, constable, or other peace officer either on the property of an institution or otherwise.