Do you remember the campus "police" officer pulling out his weapon and firing something like 15 shots in the back of a BMW on circle drive over a disputed parking permit? This was prior to a football game maybe 20 years ago. You can't make this stuff up.
No, and let me take this moment to apologize if I seemed to be dismissive of "Campus Cops", and I did.
There are good ones out there, and good departments. But my point was that if all you have ever known is being a campus cop, that experience likely does not prepare you for an "off-campus encounter", especially if the dynamics are, well...dynamic.
A retired or experienced Memphis or Nashville or Knoxville cop who ends up at UM, or Vanderbilt, or UT is...IMO...much less likely to do something stupid. If they came in good standing, then odds are that they have been weighed, measured, and found worthy of the badge they wear. Not always the case, but for the most part it holds true.
We have a couple of former and retired GSP Troopers at my S.O. They are rock solid. Could not ask for, or afford, better deputies. I'd love to have 20 of them.
If I'm a Campus PD Chief, I'm recruiting hard from the active and retired ranks of the local PD's, State Patrol, and DNR. They all bring skills I might need. The 21 year-old who just got his CJ degree from Online University? Go get 5 years on the street, then come see me.
Like I said, I'm wrong a lot, but when it comes to stuff like this, I want the best I can get. For example, Active Shooter? Gimme a Soldier or Marine who's done hundreds of dynamic entires in "BaslamiNameYourStan" over the cool guy who has enough crap on his M4 to make sure it hangs up when he tries to pull it out of his patrol vehicle.
My schooling in these matters came from the Israelis. They don't leave anything to chance. Not one detail. I'm not in their league, but I do remember what they taught me. If the time ever comes, and I can do what I learned from them (which is not likely) then I like my odds. Worst case, I can give you a tough fight.
