Parts of this blueprint raise serious concerns about exactly what the role of campus police will look like at UT institutions.

FIRE reports.

University of Texas ‘Blueprint’ for Campus Police Raises Fairness Concerns

As Inside Higher Ed reported last week, the University of Texas System has come out with a manual aimed at training UT campus police officers to respond to reports of sexual assault in a more “victim-centered” way:

Police officers at all 14 University of Texas campuses will soon be trained to follow new investigative protocols aimed at changing how campus law enforcement officers interview and support victims of sexual assault, the system announced today. A new 170-page manual, called “The Blueprint for Campus Police: Responding to Sexual Assault,” instructs the system’s 600 sworn police officers to replace “tradition with science” when investigating sexual violence.

It is important that UT envisions a substantial role for law enforcement in responding to and investigating claims of sexual assault on campus. Sexual assault is a serious crime, and FIRE has long argued that campus judiciaries are ill-equipped to handle it alone. We are happy to see that UT recommends memoranda of understanding (MOUs) between universities and law enforcement, which would “set forth a shared understanding about the roles and responsibilities” of each entity. (Of course, whether an MOU is helpful or insufficient depends on the content of the document, which cannot be evaluated until it is presented.)