ABILENE, Texas – The Abilene Christian University (ACU) Police Department’s jurisdiction has been expanded. Now officers can respond to calls in a one-mile radius of the school.
The change, which went into effect March 10, means that now ACU police share jurisdiction with Abilene’s police force. Previously, state statute prevented ACU from responding to calls made from off-campus residential areas near the school.
According to ACU officials, most of the calls originating from the surrounding neighborhood are minor. Until now, however, if they occurred on a busy night, it could take Abilene police 45 minutes to an hour to respond. Now the response time could be as little as 30 seconds.
ACU police will also be handling traffic enforcement on the perimeter of the campus.
