As part of a new agreement with the city of Morgantown, West Virginia University police will now be first responders in an area with many of the school's fraternity and sorority houses.
The agreement, announced Tuesday during a Morgantown City Council meeting, gives university police primary law enforcement responsibility over an area on campus where students live.
"It kind of makes sense for us to work there since a lot of students live in this cooperative zone," university police Chief Bob Roberts said.
The two police departments have been working on the agreement for months.
As part of the program, university police will start new educational programs with fraternities and sororities.
"We have access to other resources within the institution that the [Morgantown] police department doesn't have," Roberts said, adding that the university will work with and train students.
While he didn't directly reference it, changing the party culture surrounding Greek life on campus has been a major educational effort of university and local officials.
The last few years have been tumultuous for fraternities and sororities at West Virginia University. In 2014, Greek life was suspended after a series of incidents, including the death of first-year student and Kappa Sigma pledge Nolan Burch, 18, two days after he suffered an alcohol-related emergency at a pledging ceremony. In November, a fraternity was suspended after seven members allegedly beat and stuffed another person into the trunk of a car.
Roberts said university police hopes to address many problems through the agreement.
While university police will be first on the scene, Roberts said officers will defer to Morgantown police, who still retain jurisdiction in the area.
The agreement won't change the way services are delivered, Roberts said. University police already work in the area.
Roberts said the agreement is an example of how people can work together to make their community safer.
"In community policing, we try to find solutions to address problems," he said. "It's not just on campus."
In a statement, Corey Farris, dean of students, said the agreement will allow university police to build stronger relationships with the Greek community.
"I think this is a great first step," Roberts said. "At least I hope it is."
The agreement is part of a one-year pilot program that will be reviewed every four months.
Reach Samuel Speciale at sam.speciale@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-7939 or follow @samueljspeciale on Twitter.