Potential police presence at university in Oakland raises concerns

(KRON) — A potential new law enforcement partnership between the City of Oakland and Northeastern University is causing concern for residents in East Oakland. 

Community leaders and some residents are asking for open communication and more information about a potential partnership between Oakland police and Northeastern University. The community leaders are concerned that any new partnership could lead to more police patrolling East Oakland.

The Anti-Police-Terror Project says they found out about Northeastern University’s discussions to expand their public safety resources from concerned East Oakland residents. According to a blog post, one potential proposal would have the university create its own police department and give campus officers equal authority to regular officers.

A Q&A blog post on a community-operated group shows potential plans for the university’s police force. It states the school would fully fund the department, give officers arrest powers and allow them to carry weapons.

KRON4 reached out to the university for comment about this proposal and post. The university issued the following statement.

“While there have been productive conversations with the City of Oakland about a new partnership, including expanding our public safety resources on the Oakland campus, the information shared in *media reports or articles* does not represent the facts. Although much of the information was attributed to a Northeastern employee, none of it has been fact-checked with university leaders.”

Northeastern University

We did reach out to state and other local leaders for comment about this new development but have not heard back as of this report.

​(KRON) — A potential new law enforcement partnership between the City of Oakland and Northeastern University is causing concern for residents in East Oakland.  Community leaders and some residents are asking for open communication and more information about a potential partnership between Oakland police and Northeastern University. The community leaders are concerned that any new partnership could lead to more police patrolling […]