The Academic Senate at California State University-Fresno has approved a policy allowing campus police to go undercover in classrooms.

The new policy requires faculty approval for videotaping classes and labs, but does not call for consent from the university for undercover police presence.

Kathie Reed, vice chair of the Academic Senate at CSU-Fresno, said the policy passed with a vote of 68-0, proving the broad-based support of the entire faculty.

Reid said the members of the Academic Senate, which is made up of university professors, had positive feelings toward the motion. But she said the policy was not enacted to prevent one specific type of crime, and thus far, "there has been no indication that anyone has been a danger in our classrooms."

Ideas for the undercover police policy started after CSU-Fresno's campus police tactics came under fire in 2004. Undercover officers attended a lecture on animal rights because campus police had concerns about the potential for violence at the event.

After nothing illegal or dangerous occurred at the lecture, the university allowed for temporary installation of surveillance cameras as a trial run last May.

The presence of undercover police, Reid added, will not have any effect on classroom content, and added the university has faith in its faculty.

"[We have] no worries about professors committing crimes," Reid said.

University of Wisconsin political science professor Donald Downs said he disagrees with Reid's position, and described camera or police presence in the classroom as invasive. The policy, he said, has the potential to impact teaching material and infringe on academic freedoms.

Downs also said the classroom is not a public space and therefore should not be open for anyone to enter — including police enforcement and their cameras.

"The classroom is not a high-crime area," Downs said, adding police would need a "very good, specific reason for being present in classes."

According to Cpt. Brian Bridges of the University of Wisconsin Police Department, "plain clothes officers" — who present themselves as civilians but are required to identify themselves as officers of the law when asked — have been stationed in university classrooms with both the knowledge and consent of the professor in the past.

In most cases, Bridges said the professor was concerned with classroom disruptions and requested the police presence as a tactic of last resort. But the first step when dealing with a potentially unsafe classroom situation, Bridges added, is talking with the dean of students.

Bridges said at UW, the police exist to protect and preserve personal safety, but noted that rarely becomes an issue in classrooms. UW will never have to take drastic measures like those at CSU-Fresno to ensure safety, Bridges said, because professors have respect on campus and generally do not have problems in classrooms.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report