University officials announced changes to the University’s trespass policy today, marking the culmination of a months-long review by Suellyn Scarnecchia, the University’s vice president and general counsel, and Joe Piersante, interim executive director of the Department of Public Safety.

The new policy, which will take effect July 1, will limit the duration of any ban to one year unless University Police feel there's a compelling reason to renew the ban, extend bans to all three University campuses and allow for additional appeals and administrative review.

In a press briefing on Wednesday, Scarnecchia said the changes made to the policy resulted largely from public outcry from the campus community and members of the Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union about the fairness of the policy, which prompted discussions with various organizations over potential changes.

“It was very interesting to me that really at every meeting, regardless of the organization, I heard people’s concern for due process and fairness in the policy, and I heard people’s concern for safety and security on the campus,” she said. “So the two interests that we were trying to incorporate into the policy were very much represented in those conversations.”

In response to the changes, DPS is currently reviewing the approximately 1,800 adult and 200 juvenile trespass warnings issued since 2001. According to Piersante, staffers are currently examining each case and hope to have reviewed each case by the end of the summer, adding that he estimates that about half of the cases will be reprieved.

Piersante said the criteria for lifting charges will be focused on whether the person had repeat offenses, and will take into consideration when their last violation was committed.

He added that DPS is a strong proponent of the new changes because it will establish more concise guidelines for officers and University officials to follow.

“We were very supportive of this initiative and the changes because it gives more clarity and direction to our officers,” Piersante said. “It’s clearer to our community.”

The new policy also calls for a yearly review of those currently in the database to reassess the charges and determine if an individual should qualify for an extension. Scarnecchia said this change was based on policy at Eastern Michigan University and that it allows for the University of Michigan to more effectively deal with trespass cases.

“I think we were all in agreement that just having an open database with no review and no end date was not a good practice, a good administrative practice or law enforcement practice,” Scarnecchia said. “So we knew that we wanted to put some boundaries around the trespass warning, some time boundaries.”

People facing trespass charges are still able to appeal them to the DPS Oversight Committee, a committee that addresses disputes between community members and DPS police officers. In addition, they can now also file a second appeal through the Office of the Associate Vice President for Facilities and Operations and the UM Campus Safety and Security Committee.

“If a person received a negative decision from the chief, he or she could appeal to the Associate Vice President for Facilities and Operations and so that takes it out of the law enforcement agency and out into the civilian administration of the University where the power to issue trespass actually lies,” Scarnecchia said.