COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A string of neighborhood robberies has Ohio State University exploring whether its police should be authorized to make arrests off campus.

The idea was to be discussed Tuesday at the first meeting of a committee announced by university President E. Gordon Gee (gee) in response to the holdups near the Columbus campus. Student government leaders planned to deliver a petition calling for expanding the territory of the Ohio State police force.

The Columbus Dispatch reports ( http://bit.ly/w0cfZd ) city police are currently the only ones who handle crimes in the neighborhoods surrounding the school. Columbus Safety Director Mitchell Brown says the city's police union would have to agree to any arrangement to allow Ohio State police to respond to matters off campus.

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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com