RENO, Nev. (AP) — The University of Nevada, Reno will be charged with campus safety for nearby Truckee Meadows Community College next summer, a move that some say could spark similar consolidations of the state’s public college police departments.

The two schools will merge police forces starting July 1. The Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s public colleges, recently approved the proposal.

Truckee’s police department will effectively be dissolved. UNR police will oversee patrols and services for the community college and the Desert Research Institute, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported (http://on.rgj.com/21NWWcI).

The decision was made to cut costs. The plan will save more than $470,000 per year, officials estimated.

The plan drew some controversy at public discussions over the last year. However, the idea has been talked about for 15 years. But higher education administrators had expressed concern the plan could spur cuts of police departments on other campus in southern Nevada.

Nevada System of Higher Education Chancellor Dan Klaich says the plan has evolved greatly over time. But negotiations were never made the expense of any students or staff, he said.

Truckee Meadows President Kyle Daple said more progress was made in the last few weeks. The community college met with students, faculty and other staff to address concerns about the whittled down police force. Among the changes since a presentation was made in December is that some officers will be assigned exclusively to Truckee Meadows. Furthermore, the community college will have input on the hiring of new officers who will have the campus on their beat. Some of the hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings will go toward Truckee Meadows. Daple said the money will be used to keep on the college’s police chief as a faculty member in the school’s criminal justice department. Other funds will be spent on academic matters.

Information from: Reno Gazette- Journal, http://www.rgj.com