UT police were widely criticized for their handling of the murder of Thomas Baer on campus in 1988. In February 1991, amidst a controversy over whether UT police should release records of arrests and investigations involving students, State Senator Bud Gilbert filed a bill in the general assembly giving the Knoxville Police Department jurisdiction over all felonies occurring on campus. Vice Chancellor Phil Scheurer expressed concern that changing jurisdictions would inhibit the ability of the Office of Student Affairs to refer student victims to counseling. Scheurer was quoted in the Daily Beacon as indicating that, in the case of rapes, “if jurisdiction was changed, it might exact a ‘chilling effect’ on the number of people that report the crime,” a position with which the Beacon editorially took exception.
When two students were robbed at their Golf Range Apartments and one was injured, UT police called the Knoxville Police Department for support, but the KPD declined. One of the victims demanded that the case be handled by KPD, and the case was turned over to KPD by the UT police. The victim’s criticism of UT police prompted an internal investigation.
University officials and the Knoxville Police Department signed an agreement that would allow the KPD to handle all felonies on campus. The agreement spelled out that calls to 911 involving serious crimes would be first handled by KPD and that the UT Police Department could be called in as backup. Specific crimes listed as falling under the agreement were homicide, rape, armed robbery, racketeering, and kidnapping.