Our Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers work around the clock to maintain the safety of the USC campus and surrounding community. We followed them around for a day to see all the aspects of working at DPS.
They are not POLICE OFFICERS and do not fall under section 830 of the penal code defining who are peace officers are in the State of California. They are a private college security officers however, they are empowered (by the State of California, and under memorandum of understanding with LAPD) to have limited peace powers for the purpose of making arrests while in the course of their duties under section 830.7 (b) of the Calif. Penal Code. Because they are not a police department, They do not have red and blue lights to do traffic stops, they are not allowed to have "POLICE" designation on their uniforms and patrol cars, cannot respond to mutual aid calls outside their properties (and adjacent areas), have no law enforcement authority outside and adjacent to their properties and are not authorized to CCW off-duty. To sum it up, they are not sworn peace officers but are given limited "peace officer powers to arrest", while on duty, but are not duly sworn peace officers of the State of California. The reason for this is, USC is a private university, unlike public universities. Public Universities like California State University and University of California have California State University Police and University of California Police who fall under section 830.2 PC as state peace officers, because they are State owned public universities. Private institutions (like USC, Pepperdine) cannot (by law) have private police, but the state of California allows them to implement a Dept. of Public Safety, which is (essentially) a private security force that performs some law enforcement functions, with limited peace officer powers to arrest, along with their private campus security duties. Because they have these (limited) powers to arrest, they are required to attend at least a reserve level law enforcement academy or 832 PC training to carry out those powers of a peace officer while on duty and on their property. California law allows Private University security forces to implement (if they choose to do so) a public safety department with these limited powers. California Code, Penal Code - PEN § 830.7 The following persons are not peace officers but may exercise the powers of arrest of a peace officer as specified in Section 836 during the course and within the scope of their employment, if they successfully complete a course in the exercise of those powers pursuant to Section 832: (b) Persons regularly employed as security officers for independent institutions of higher education, recognized under subdivision (b) of Section 66010 of the Education Code, if the institution has concluded a memorandum of understanding, permitting the exercise of that authority, with the sheriff or the chief of police within whose jurisdiction the institution lies.
