The Georgia Tech Police Department (GTPD) is tasked with keeping the Institute’s campus safe. GTPD police are sworn officers with the power to make arrests on University System of Georgia property and 500 yards beyond it. At the same time, they serve as agents of the Institute by enforcing the Student Code of Conduct. So what does that mean for students?
GTPD’s Dual Authority: Legal vs. Institute Enforcement
According to Cortney Lollar, a law professor at Georgia State University (GSU), if “someone is arrested for something that violates both the student conduct rules and the federal or state laws, they can have parallel track proceedings.” Therefore, students can face both academic and criminal consequences for violations occurring from the time they are admitted to the time they receive their diploma. Both campus and traditional police forces are seldom involved in civil cases.
Although the criminal and Institute proceedings may occur concurrently, a student’s constitutional rights may only apply in the criminal proceeding. Lollar explained, “The worst case scenario for solely a student conduct violation is you’re expelled from school,” as opposed to a criminal proceeding where one might be imprisoned or face other punishments.
Lollar explained the difference in legal standing between criminal and academic proceedings: “Do you have a right to your education? Not at the federal level and not at the post-secondary level in the state of Georgia.” Given that accessing higher education is not a right under the constitution, “your rights within the context of a school disciplinary hearing are more limited,” she said.
For instance, Georgia Tech establishes the burden of proof in a Student Code of Conduct hearing as “a preponderance of evidence,” meaning it has to be more likely true than not, which Lollar noted is “a much lower standard than in a criminal court,” where proof beyond a reasonable doubt is required.
Lollar said that during criminal cases, “If an officer violates the Fourth Amendment’s rules prohibiting an unlawful seizure of a person or search of their property, the consequence is that the evidence can be thrown out and not considered in the court proceeding. It’s unclear that those same protections would apply in a student conduct proceeding.”
Additionally, the Institute does not provide legal counsel to students accused of violating the Code of Conduct. This lack of legal advising disadvantages students without connections or the ability to pay for an attorney.
Russell Covey, another law professor at GSU, affirmed the ambiguity surrounding college police departments’ dual role: “Campus police officers do frequently embody two separate functions, and the legal rules that attach to those two different job functions can be different.”
“It’s unclear that those same protections would apply in a student conduct proceeding.”
He noted, “Law enforcement officers, just in general, have a lot of discretion about how they want to handle different situations.” For instance, he said, “If you’re a regular street cop, you don’t have to arrest a teenager with a beer. You could just take the beer away if you want.” GTPD officers are allowed to practice another layer of discretion unique to campus settings and may choose to initiate a Code of Conduct violation.
Lieutenant Jessica Howard has led the Community OutReach and Engagement (CORE) team for the past five years. CORE aims to reduce crime by proactively engaging with the campus community.
Howard said that GTPD officers consider whether the student has “been a threat to themselves or someone else” in determining whether to pursue criminal charges or Code of Conduct violations. This reasoning leads to “Most of our Student Code of Conduct reports [being] surrounded by alcohol or drug-related infractions,” she said.
Officer Gary Cook has been employed with GTPD for 28 years and also serves on the CORE Team. Cook shared his rationale for issuing Code of Conduct violations for alcohol-related concerns: “Could we put them in jail? Yes, but I think what hurts them more is if their parents get involved and we do the administrative process. Since they are adults, if they end up in jail, it is not certain that their parents might find out.” Howard asserted that issuing Student Code of Conduct violations for underage drinking “lets [the student] get the help that they need.” These perspectives provide rationales for when and how GTPD exercises its police discretion.
Although students have fewer rights during a Code of Conduct violation process, when GTPD is involved, it is often unclear whether the officers are criminally or institutionally focused in their investigation. For instance, Professor Lollar said, “If campus officers are conducting a search that is authorized by the Student Code of Conduct rules and they see something criminal during the search, under the Fourth Amendment, the officer can seize that evidence … so long as it is in plain view.” Although a search started as a Code of Conduct function, it can turn into a criminal function without announcement or clarity from the officer conducting the search.
“Although a search started as a Code of Conduct function, it can turn into a criminal function without announcement or clarity from the officer conducting the search.”
In general, Professor Covey advised, “People always have the right to decline to talk to the police,” and say no to a search. He said, “It doesn’t mean you… can always end interaction with a law enforcement officer and leave… but that doesn’t mean that you need to cooperate.”
However, part of the Student Code of Conduct lists the “Failure to cooperate with the investigation, resolution, and procedures of the Code” as a prohibited conduct offense. Thus, it remains unclear to what extent students must answer GTPD questions, assuming the officers are not pursuing criminal charges. This creates a challenging situation where students may not know which ‘hat’ the officer is wearing during an interaction or what their rights are at any given moment.
The Schultz Case
The complexity of GTPD’s role in protecting the campus community came into the limelight when Scout Schultz, a 21-year-old Georgia Tech student, was killed by an officer. In 2017, Schultz called 911 and alerted them that someone was outside with a knife and potentially a gun, but Schultz was describing themself, even though they were only carrying an unopened multi-tool. Despite Schultz’s mental distress, GTPD Officer Tyler Beck shot and killed them outside their on-campus dorm after they refused to drop the multi-tool.
In 2020, the Fulton County District Attorney stated that Officer Beck would not face charges, determining that the use of force fell within legal guidelines. Beck was employed as a GTPD officer until 2021, according to online pay records.
To effectively serve the campus community, GTPD new hires are state-certified and must complete field training on Georgia Tech’s campus. Furthermore, the whole department engages in several forms of annual training. Lieutenant Howard emphasized the role of training to intervene during mental health crises and said, “We get 120 plus hours of training a year.” In the State of Georgia, police are only required to complete 20 hours per year.
Officer Cook believes that the focus on mental health training started after the killing of Scout Schultz and said, “Before that, we may have had a little bit [of mental health training], now it seems like we’re doing it all the time.” He also said that officers now carry tasers and pepper ball guns, which are non-lethal weapons, in addition to guns and pepper spray, which were the only weapons carried prior to the Schultz killing.
Police Reform
Thad Johnson is a former Memphis law enforcement officer and current GSU criminal justice professor who has focused much of his work on the effects of police training and reform.
He noted that though there are some differences between a city police force and a campus police force in their scope and the kinds of crime that occur most frequently, he finds that the role of city and campus forces has merged since the “early 2000s with the mass school shootings.”
As campus police become more similar to traditional police forces, he emphasized, “We have to remember that policing is an industry. We’re not doing this work for free.”
And since policing is an industry, the compensation of officers plays a significant role in the way policing occurs. Johnson referenced that in many police departments, the reward structures tend to incentivize arrest, citation, and traffic stop numbers. Additionally, he said, “If you want to get rewarded, you want to get promoted… You have to make those arrests, which is just for the sake of making an arrest, not necessarily for the sake of public safety.”
Johnson asserted, “Unless how we reward people aligns with the job that we want [officers] to be doing,” we are unlikely to see reform. He noted that it’s not about getting rid of arrests as a performance metric but incorporating additional metrics to measure individual and department-wide police performance. Lieutenant Howard affirmed that compensation for GTPD officers is not based on arrest or citation numbers.
Emphasizing the importance of this type of incentive reform, he stated, “We are not going to be able to recruit or retain a diversified force if we don’t diversify our reward structure,” which is important given the multitude of cultures represented on campus.
Regarding the hiring process, Howard noted, “We’re really selective about who we hire because we want to maintain the relationship that we do have on campus.”
Johnson noted another challenge that both city and campus police forces face: helping the unsheltered. He asserted, “Being unsheltered is bigger than policing. So what are police supposed to do?” This highlights the interconnection between GTPD protecting students, faculty, and staff and helping those who are temporarily on campus grounds.
He shared, “I remember being an officer, and somebody’s cold and homeless, and I have to make a decision. I can’t take them to the hospital to get their meds. I can’t take them to the shelter. So do I lock them up so they can get the possibility of getting their meds and not being cold? Or is that a violation of their civil liberties?” He noted the importance of training and clarity of procedures for officers so they can consistently and safely respond to societal needs.
Lieutenant Howard shared that GTPD spends significant time engaging with the unsheltered community. Occasionally, these interactions result in recorded misdemeanor charges for “Loitering/Prowling,” which is one of the most common campus incidents that GTPD reports.
“If you want to get rewarded, you want to get promoted… You have to make those arrests, which is just for the sake of making an arrest, not necessarily for the sake of public safety.”
When GTPD finds unsheltered people on campus, officers aim to help them find shelter; Howard said, “We’re calling local resources, and unfortunately, there’s a process before we can get them some type of help.” She shared that officers often call shelters outside of the metro area since these shelters might have more availability to take in new people. Another alternative is to provide referrals to Policing Alternatives & Diversion, which aims to help individuals who have been accused of a crime and are living in poverty, dealing with substance abuse, or mental health concerns. GTPD therefore has complex interactions between creating a safe learning environment and preserving state and federal laws.
In the end, students remain of central importance to GTPD. Cook explained that one reason he has enjoyed working for GTPD for 28 years is that city police forces often “Don’t have the luxury to talk to people.” He noted that having the time to engage with the community is one of the main benefits of working for GTPD. Cook said, “You have time to be a little bit more proactive” and increase safety by engaging with the campus community.