August 2026
During the 2025–26 legislative session, several bills were introduced in the New York legislature focusing on changes to the organizational structure of the State University of New York (SUNY) Police that would alter some of its presently campus-based functions with a more centralized administrative model. Currently, each SUNY campus operates a police department under local command leadership and often has locally tailored policies. These proposals and current practices warrant a review of whether centralization of certain functions and policies is feasible and would increase operational efficiency and, primarily, enhance the safety of students, faculty, and staff across the SUNY system.
Those in favor of a more centralized SUNY Police approach have argued that SUNY Police command and control mechanisms could be streamlined, training and procedures could be improved, allocation of resources could be made more equitable, inter-campus coordination could be better facilitated, and shared services could be enhanced overall. However, others, including campus presidents and current police chiefs, have indicated concerns about how legislative changes would possibly impinge on local campus authority and autonomy. They also raise concerns with respect to campus-specific needs, collective bargaining complexities, enacting sufficient statutory authority, and potential disruptions in safety for students and staff.
This report analyzes the impacts of centralizing certain policies, functions, and governance structures for SUNY Police. In addition, it examines whether there are other potential options for reform other than centralization. It also reviews the experiences of other state university systems to evaluate a menu of potential reforms for the SUNY Police system outside of centralization for consideration in future policies. Together, these potential reforms include:
Centralization Options
Noncentralization Options
