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Wake-Up Call

CUNY's campus cops deserve better

BY RON ISAAC
Posted 9/9/22

They have the authority to make arrests, but not the financial clout to afford a studio apartment.

Peace officers at dozens of CUNY campuses are responsible for doing warrant checks, vouching evidence, doing inventory, acting as fire wardens, monitoring closed-circuit television, controlling traffic, checking IDs, performing risk assessments, resolving interpersonal conflicts (not just over parking spaces but at flashpoint gatherings), maintaining logs and radio contact with campus departments and external law enforcement, writing incident reports and narratives that meet judicial standards, being updated daily on college activities, programs and operations, managing crowd control, braving environmental conditions during all seasons, doing physical exertion such as running and lifting, conducting building evacuations, deploying handcuffs and pepper spray when necessary, and knowing that on their job, according to CUNY's official civil service examination notice, "physical injury is possible.”

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