DC campuses disarm police, refuse to work with ICE, train officers in progressive policing
Washington D.C. universities reject firearms and ICE enforcement while emphasizing progressive policing reforms.
As the Trump administration cracks down on crime in Washington DC, Campus Reform is spotlighting colleges and universities in our nation’s capital that prohibit officers from carrying firearms and refuse to work with federal authorities.
Institutions including Georgetown University, American University, and George Washington University emphasize diversity training and de-escalation methods over arming officers, despite security concerns and crime trends.
Progressive policing reforms that surged across campuses during the 2020 ”Defund the Police” wave continue to guide campus safety policy today.
American University
American University prohibits campus safety officers from carrying firearms. Instead, officers carry batons and pepper spray and are trained in “de-escalation techniques.”
“We do not train aggressive tactics,” the assistant vice president of university police services, Phillip Morse, reportedly said in a university forum.
A policing report from an AU advisory committee said that “diversifying the police profession” is a priority as “many [police forces] remain predominantly white and male.”
American University also refuses to assist federal immigration authorities. The school publicly declared campus officers “will not participate in joint immigration enforcement efforts” and instructs the campus community to “immediately notify” the university of ICE sightings. AU’s policies align with over 35 colleges with “Sanctuary Campus” policies that limit cooperation with federal authorities to protect illegal immigrant students.
Georgetown University
Officers do not carry firearms and are instead issued safety batons, pepper spray and protective vests, according to Georgetown University’s annual security report.
“All GUPD officers receive cultural competency and implicit bias training,” a message to the campus community stated. Implicit bias training is meant to train officers to recognize unconscious attitudes, stereotypes or prejudices they may hold toward certain groups or races.
Georgetown Law’s Police for Tomorrow fellowship program includes progressive training topics like “implicit bias and institutionalized racism in the criminal justice system.”
Georgetown’s student-run newspaper previously reported that the campus police department partnered with the university’s LGBTQ Resource Center and the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity and Affirmative Action to provide implicit bias training and “training on transgender issues with its officers.” Campus Reform has reached out to confirm whether these trainings remain in place.
[RELATED: WATCH: Students more concerned about risk from armed police than criminals]
Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University told local media it “has no armed officers.” Last year, FOX 5 Washington DC reported a study that named Gallaudet University as the most dangerous campus in America.
As part of the university’s “anti-racism commitment,” officers at the Department of Public Safety undergo “training on implicit and explicit bias” as well as “de-escalation training.”
Since 2020, the university has required annual trainings telling officers how their “personal biases influence decisions and perspectives” and instructing them on the “historical perspective of racism in society and higher education.”
The university also committed to “ensure that student engagement, especially from student organizations of color, be part of the hiring process for the Department of Public Safety.”
Trinity Washington University
Trinity Washington University officers are unarmed and possess no law enforcement authority, per the university’s most recent security report.
“Trinity Washington University employs licensed Security Officers, but their powers of arrest are no more than any citizen,” a university webpage states.
George Washington University
At George Washington University, two-thirds of campus officers are unarmed.
“The university does not plan to arm non-supervisory officers, who comprise the majority of the force and are the most likely to interact with GW community members on a daily basis,” the university wrote in an update.
Armed officers are required to undergo trainings linked to social justice teachings, including “implicit bias training every semester, de-escalation training once per month, [and] mental health response training three times per year.”
Campus Reform has contacted all universities mentioned in this article for clarification on updated safety policies. This article will be updated accordingly.
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