Below our some questions you may have about Public Safety and our role in campus life. If you have additional questions you'd like to ask, you can contact us at any time at 570-577-3333 or publicsafety@bucknell.edu.
Bucknell University is a Municipal Police Officers Training and Education-recognized Act 120 police agency. Bucknell sworn police officers have the same authority and powers as any state-certified police officer working for a municipal agency. We exercise our police powers within University-owned and adjacent properties and can respond to mutual aid requests from area law enforcement departments.
In the interest of safety, we try to position ourselves in high-traffic areas. That includes both vehicle traffic and pedestrian traffic. We often park in these areas to deter parking and traffic violations and enhance visibility. We are not parked there to focus on any individual property.
If you reside off campus in Lewisburg or East Buffalo Township, the Buffalo Valley Regional Police Department will respond.
It depends on the nature of your contact with the officer. There are three levels of contact we have with the public: consensual contacts, detentions and arrests.
A consensual contact is defined as a voluntary interaction between an officer and a member of the community. In this type of contact, an officer can request to see your identification, and you can refuse.
If you are detained, which means we have reasonable suspicion that a crime has occurred or is in progress, you can be compelled to provide your identification as part of the detention.
If you are arrested, you can be compelled to provide your identification.
Code of Conduct violations are defined in the Student Handbook. These are University-specific violations and are handled through an internal judicial process. Violations subject a member of the University community to the student disciplinary process. We make referrals to the Dean of Students office based on specific violations we encounter. Some of the most common violations we encounter involve noise and alcohol.
Violations of criminal law can subject an individual to arrest and criminal prosecution for the offense. Depending on the severity of the offense, both a conduct investigation and criminal investigation may take place.
Items that are prohibited on campus and may not be stored in residence halls include:
Family notifications are handled through the Dean of Students Office and primarily occur when incidents involve medical emergencies. Unless authorized, Public Safety does not contact parents or families directly.
The passage of the Violence Against Women Act's (VAWA) amendments in 2013 had an important impact on Clery Act reporting requirements. In addition to the established list of Clery crimes required to be reported, VAWA added the crimes of domestic violence, dating violence and stalking. Regarding the categories of bias used in reporting hate crimes, VAWA added the category of gender identity and separated national origin from ethnicity. Certain sex offenses reported to a Title IX official may also be Clery crimes, requiring evaluation for a timely warning. VAWA mandates prevention/ educational programming about domestic violence, dating violence and stalking for both students and employees, and specifically prohibits an institution from including a victim's name in a timely warning. There are also mandates surrounding an institution's judicial processes for students and employees. All of the programming and judicial information is required to be included in an institution's Annual Safety and Security Report, which provides Clery Act information and statistics.
Under certain circumstances, officers may search your campus residence.
Want to learn more about Bucknell?