GWU Police

[orlandofed5-0]

Just curious what the Green Lights bars means? If they are LEO's in some form why dont they have red or blues? I know in CA some FD's use a green light attatched to a boom light or a single strobe on the back of their SUV's to indicate IC.

They no longer have green lights but all blue lights.

[flash40]

They no longer have green lights but all blue lights.

Indeed. Looks a lot nicer than the green! I glanced in one last week and couldn't see any controls - do they have sirens? Are they considered / can they be operated as emergency vehicles ?

[DCPSDcop]

Indeed. Looks a lot nicer than the green! I glanced in one last week and couldn't see any controls - do they have sirens? Are they considered / can they be operated as emergency vehicles ?

The police vehicles have only lights, no sirens. The EMS vehicles are now fully equipped with lights and sirens.

GWU Police are the only university department om DC without sirens in their cars. A fault of Chief Stafford is her obsession with being cautious and following all the rules. The DC Code doesn't specifically state that university police can operate emergency vehicles, so she will not install the sirens in the police vehicles, until that is changed.

[moparfan]

So if those officers have to respond some where what do they do stick their head out the window and yell? So did the green lights have any special meaning, or was it something they just put on the cars?

[DCPSDcop]

GWU Police operate mostly in a very congested area comprising 20+ blocks of downtown Washington DC ... so during rush hour for instance, all the sirens in the world can only get you through so much traffic in a vehicle ... and it won't be quick. They do however have a very active Police Mountain Bike Unit, which is able to cut through traffic very quickly, no matter the time of the day.

The green lights had no meaning. Chief Stafford just didn't believe that University Police could have blue lights in the District of Columbia (even though all the other University Departments had them on their vehicles), so she had green lights mounted on the vehicles. Eventually, she was convinced that it was perfectly lawful for her agency to have blue lights, so they replaced all the green lights.

If she wasn't retiring, I am guessing that Chief Stafford would eventually figure out that she can have sirens too. But since she is retiring, that'll be someone else's decision.

I will say it is kind of jacked up that the EMS Division of UPD (which is comprised mostly of volunteer students) has emergency lights and sirens, but the Police Division has only emergency lights ... no sirens. Great for morale!

[moparfan]

HOW, but like someone said prior they dont carry so guess it makes sense. Its like USC Public Safety out here in CA. They go through a full police acedemy 22wks but they dont have police powers. They still have to get a guard card and all the permits. Their cars have amber lights and all. Then the other odd agency out here are the police officers for the CA Dept Of Mental Health. They are fully marked officers, patches and units all say police and have emeregency lights but they dont carry side arms at all. Doesnt make any sense out here either. Guess every area has that one odd PD.

[dcUniCop]

Indeed. Looks a lot nicer than the green! I glanced in one last week and couldn't see any controls - do they have sirens? Are they considered / can they be operated as emergency vehicles ?

To follow-up on the others' comments--to be an emergency vehicle in DC you have to have red lights. Blue signifies priority but doesn't give emergency status. Whenever a university police car is driving on public roads (outside their jurisdiction) they're not technically supposed to use lights/sirens at all and can't be an emergency vehicle.

[DCPSDcop]

they're not technically supposed to use lights/sirens at all and can't be an emergency vehicle.

That is absolutely INCORRECT. Although I have often heard that from people. There is nothing in the DC Code that says a university police department cannot operate emergency vehicles.

Case in point. GWU Police - EMS Division (EMeRG) has fully equipped emergency vehicles (red lights and sirens) which operate on city streets of the District of Columbia.

Georgetown University EMS (GERMS) has fully equipped emergency vehicles (red lights and sirens) which operate on city streets of the District of Columbia.

Like I said, there is nothing in the DC Code which says universities can't have emergency vehicles. That is a myth.

[dcUniCop]

That is absolutely INCORRECT. Although I have often heard that from people. There is nothing in the DC Code that says a university police department cannot operate emergency vehicles.

Case in point. GWU Police - EMS Division (EMeRG) has fully equipped emergency vehicles (red lights and sirens) which operate on city streets of the District of Columbia.

Georgetown University EMS (GERMS) has fully equipped emergency vehicles (red lights and sirens) which operate on city streets of the District of Columbia.

Like I said, there is nothing in the DC Code which says universities can't have emergency vehicles. That is a myth.

Agreed--I think I misspoke (mistyped?). I meant that none of the universities that have all-blue lights (especially on their police vehicles) have gone through the process to be designated by DPW as being emergency vehicles. DPW is the city agency that designates EV status and since none of the university police have reds I believe that means they haven't gone through that process.

[XD-40]

Agreed--I think I misspoke (mistyped?). I meant that none of the universities that have all-blue lights (especially on their police vehicles) have gone through the process to be designated by DPW as being emergency vehicles. DPW is the city agency that designates EV status and since none of the university police have reds I believe that means they haven't gone through that process.

I thought Georgetown Public Safety had red and blues...

[dcUniCop]

I thought Georgetown Public Safety had red and blues...

If they do, that would make them emergency vehicles... But Howard, AU, GW, Catholic, etc. just have blues and aren't EVs.

[theheights109]

I thought Georgetown Public Safety had red and blues...

Georgetown DOES NOT have red at all...just blue...unless that has changed sometime since last Saturday, which I doubt it has.

[orlandofed5-0]

Georgetown DOES NOT have red at all...just blue...unless that has changed sometime since last Saturday, which I doubt it has.

Georgetown law public safety has red n blues, they are the campus by Union Station on NJ ave.

[DCPSDcop]

Georgetown University Law School Dept of Public Safety has red and blue on white cruisers.

Georgetown University Dept of Public Safety has all blue lights on blue cruisers with white tops.

The two departments are separate due to the Dean of the Law School being a very powerful person and not liking the old Director of the Dept of Public Safety (William Tucker); so the university allowed her to have her own separate police force for her campus.

[XD-40]

Georgetown DOES NOT have red at all...just blue...unless that has changed sometime since last Saturday, which I doubt it has.