University of Illinois Police Department Subject File, 1895-2018 | University of Illinois Archives

Police presence at the University of Illinois was first established with the appointment of a Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds in 1896, where the Board of Trustees determined that this department’s janitors would be granted the authority to act as special police officers.¹ On September 26th 1911, the Board of Trustees passed a resolution to employ “two deputy sheriffs for continuous police duty,” which established the University of Illinois Police Department (UIPD).² The duties of the UIPD were limited in scope until legislation (110 ILCS 305/7) passed in the Illinois General Assembly in 1964 that officially defined University deputies as police officers, granting them the same powers as municipal police.³ Since then, the University of Illinois Police Department has held jurisdiction over the University of Illinois Campus and some of the surrounding area. In 2012, the UIPD was the first university department in Illinois to receive tier two accreditation from ILEAP (llinois Law Enforcement Accreditation Program).⁴

1. University of Illinois. Eighteenth Report of the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois (1896). https://digital.library.illinois.edu/items/60188540-5cd8-0132-3334-0050569601ca-b

2. University of Illinois. Twenty-Sixth Report of the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois (1912). https://digital.library.illinois.edu/items/601e5230-5cd8-0132-3334-0050569601ca-9

3. Sauer, Marti. “Two Strikes Against Students: Chief Shirley.” Daily Illini, April 10, 1964. https://idnc.library.illinois.edu/?a=d&d=DIL19640410.2.5&srpos=71&e=------196-en-20-DIL-61-byDA.rev-img-txIN-police%2C+legislation---------#

4. University of Illinois Police Department. “UIPD receives high accreditation marks.” February 8, 2021. https://police.illinois.edu/uipd-receives-high-accreditation-marks/