Gazette Online, IA
09-06-07
Views evenly split on arming campus officers
By Diane Heldt
The Gazette
diane.heldt@gazettecommunications.com
IOWA CITY - University of Iowa faculty, staff and students who oppose arming
campus police officers said the presence of more guns would create more risk,
outweighing any benefit from such a change.
Those who spoke at a public forum Thursday in support of the idea said since a
campus police officer is expected to protect people, the officer should have the
necessary tools to do it well.
Opinions were about evenly split on the issue, with a slight majority of the 20
people who spoke at the forum opposed to arming campus officers. A few others
who spoke said they wanted more time to hear and share rational discussion on
the emotional issue. About 75 people attended the event.
UI President Sally Mason will make her recommendation on the issue next week
to the state Board of Regents, as will the presidents at Iowa State University
and the University of Northern Iowa, with discussion slated for the Sept. 18-19
regents meeting in Council Bluffs.
Several speakers opposed to the idea, which is recommended by the directors of
public safety and vice presidents at the three universities, conceded that
supporters' make convincing arguments. But they said it comes down to feeling
less safe if there are more guns on campus.
``I have many, many fears about something like this,'' UI junior Thalia Sutton
said.
UI police receive the same training as other law enforcement officers in the state,
and UI graduate student Nancy Menning said she trusts that training, but she
opposes making guns standard equipment. She said Iowa's three public
universities should be proud to be among the few campuses nationally where
police are not armed.
``Iowa stands out, not negatively, for having a disarmed force, but positively,'' she
said.
A few opponents referenced Eric Shaw, an Iowa City resident who was shot and
killed inside his business by a city police officer in 1996. They pointed to that as
the kind of tragedy that could happen with armed UI officers.
Several supporters of the recommendation said it's unfair to expect officers to
respond to threats without a gun, a weapon available to other certified police
officers.
``I don't understand that division,'' said Erin McCroskey, a UI law library
employee. ``This campus police department is a certified police department just
like all the other men and women in blue.''
The university's 35 officers have probably the most difficult job on campus, said
David Kelzenberg, a UI Career Center employee who supports arming the force.
``If the bad guys are armed, I want the people who are protecting us to be
similarly armed,'' he said.
Director of Public Safety Chuck Green said UI officers respond to calls that are
sometimes dangerous and unpredictable.
``The problem with provisional arming is it's only good if you know you're going to
face that danger,'' he said. ``I do believe that for many of you, arming campus
police officers is an enormous change in the culture and it's one that's negative.''
The UI Faculty Council, a leadership group of the Faculty Senate, voted 12-3
Tuesday to support the recommendation to arm campus police. The UNI Faculty
Senate last week voted 11-3 against it. The UI Faculty Senate and the ISU
Faculty Senate will vote on the issue Tuesday.
The UI, ISU and UNI are the only schools in their respective conferences and
peer groups that have certified police officers who do not carry guns as standard
equipment.