Clery Report

Gardner-Webb University Police Department

The University Police Department is a multifunctional service agency whose primary purpose is to protect the University Community and enforce state, federal, and local laws designed for the safety of life and property. The Gardner-Webb University Campus Police Department is comprised of professional men and women whose purpose is to provide a safe environment in which students, faculty, and staff may live, learn, and work. The professionally trained officers of this department often work with local, state, and federal authorities to resolve cases. The University Police Department operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

When reporting a crime or non-emergency on campus dial (704) 406-4444. When you observe a life-threatening emergency, call 911. University Police Officers are fully sworn police officers under the laws of the state of North Carolina by the Attorney General’s Office. They have full arrest powers on University property and property adjacent to the University. The University Police Department works closely with other law enforcement agencies. University Police maintain a mutual aid agreement under the laws of North Carolina, with the Town of Boiling Springs, Shelby Police Department, and the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office. This agreement allows each department to aid the other when necessary.

Campus lighting is routinely checked by University Police Officers and repair requests are made to the University’s Plant Operations Department.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Gardner-Webb University Police Department is to enhance the quality of life within the University Community by providing a safe and secure environment through professional law enforcement services and proactive crime prevention. These responsibilities are to be met with integrity and character consistent with the authority and direction of the Attorney General of the State of North Carolina.

Gardner Webb University Police Department Jurisdiction

North Carolina General Statutes, subsection 74G-6. Oaths, powers, and authority of campus police office requirements: An individual who is commissioned as a campus police officer must take the oath of office required of a law enforcement officer before the individual assumes the duties of a campus police officer. The person in each campus police agency who is responsible for the agency’s campus police officers must be commissioned as a campus police officer.

Powers and Authority of Officers. Campus police officers, while in the performance of their duties of employment, have the same powers as municipal and county police officers to make arrests for both felonies and misdemeanors and to charge for infractions on any of the following:

  1. Real property owned by or in the possession and control of the institution employing the officer.
  2. Any portion of any public road or highway passing through the real property described in subdivision of this subsection or immediately adjoining it, wherever located.
  3. Any other real property while in continuous and immediate pursuit of a person for an offense committed upon property described above.

In exercising the powers conferred by this subsection, campus police officers shall apply the standards established by the law of this State and the United States. Powers and Authority of Institutions. The governing body of any private educational institution that has a campus police agency may:

  • Enter into joint agreements with the governing board of any municipality to extend the law enforcement authority of campus police officers into any or all of the municipality’s jurisdiction and to determine the circumstances in which this extension of authority may be granted;
  • Enter into joint agreements with the governing board of any county and, with the consent of the sheriff, to extend the law enforcement authority of campus police officers into any or all of the county’s jurisdiction and to determine the circumstances in which this extension of authority may be granted;
  • Enter into joint agreements with the governing board of any other public or private educational institution that has a campus police agency pursuant to this Chapter or pursuant to G.S. 116-40.5 to extend the law enforcement authority of its campus police officers into any or all of the other institution’s jurisdiction and to determine the circumstances as to which its extension of authority may be granted.

Concealed Weapons. Campus police officers shall have, if duly authorized by their campus police agency and by the sheriff of the county in which the campus police agency is located, the authority to carry concealed weapons pursuant to and in conformity with G.S. 14-269(8)(5).

Public Institutions. Notwithstanding any of the provisions of this Chapter, the board of trustees if any constituent of the University of North Carolina may elect to have its officers certified under Chapter 17C and Chapter 116 of the General Statutes, and the board of trustees of any community college may elect to have its officers certified as a campus police agency and campus police commission pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter.

 Exclusive Authority. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the authority granted to campus police officers certified under this Chapter shall be limited to the provisions of this Chapter. (2005-231, s. 1.)