Iowa State Department of Public Safety officials say there is a misnomer among some students that DPS is just a campus security force.

Officers say DPS is a working police department with the same powers and limitations as other law enforcement agencies, despite the fact that DPS officers don’t carry guns.

“Students tend to look at us as more of a security force than law enforcement,” said John Tinker, DPS investigative coordinator. “You don’t have to be armed to arrest somebody.”

DPS gets its authority from the state Board of Regents, while the Ames Police Department is authorized through the city. The jurisdiction of both agencies extends into the city limits. The primary jurisdiction of DPS is university property, but the officers do have statewide authority, said Rob Bowers, DPS patrol coordinator.

The Ames Police also have authority on the ISU campus.

“Our jurisdiction is within the city limits and the university falls within that,” said Sgt. Jim Robinson of the Ames Police Department. All officers must graduate from the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy.

Though they are unarmed, DPS officers receive the same firearms training as the Ames Police Department officers, Bowers said.

Of the 25 sworn officers who work for DPS, “four or five people in our department have their masters degree. Every one of our officers are medical model first responders, which is a step below an EMT. We also have three accident reconstruction officers on staff,” Bowers said.

Each year about 300 arrests are made by DPS. To date, there have been more than 11,000 calls for service this year. Bowers said he anticipates 14,000 calls by year’s end.

“The majority of our cases are theft cases,” he said.

By comparison, Robinson said the majority of the crimes Ames police deal with are alcohol related.

There is a mutual aid agreement with the county, city and university law enforcement officials. If the Ames Police Department is called about a university situation, the caller is referred to DPS, and vice versa.

“We haven’t had any jurisdiction problems,” Tinker said.

Usually, whatever agency gets a call responds to the incident. If assistance is needed, the other agency provides backup. “We work very close with Ames with practically all incidents that come up,” Tinker said.