Gazette Online, IA
09-12-07
Iowa university presidents say arm campus police
By Diane Heldt
The Gazette
diane.heldt@gazettecommunications.com
IOWA CITY - The presidents of the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and
the University of Northern Iowa are recommending their campus police be armed
with guns.
UI President Sally Mason, ISU President Gregory Geoffroy and UNI President
Ben Allen made their recommendations in letters to the state Board of Regents
yesterday and today. The letters were obtained by The Gazette.
The regents will talk about the issue at their meeting Tuesday and Wednesday in
Council Bluffs.
The three presidents said all police officers on the three campuses receive the
same training and certification as all other law enforcement officers in the state.
Mason noted that the current policy of arming officers only in situations involving
readily foreseeable extreme danger does not recognize that officers routinely
function in an environment with the potential for extreme danger.
UNI President Allen agreed.
"The recommendation to arm UNI police officers is based largely on the fact that
the risk to police officers in meeting their responsibilities without proper
equipment is real," Allen wrote in his recommendation.
ISU President Geoffroy said in his letter that while everyone may not agree with
the recommendation, he believes it is best for campus safety.
"It is my judgment that in order to ensure that we continue to provide the safest
possible learning environment for our students, faculty and staff and visitors to
our campus, and understanding that there are increasing threats to our security,
we must provide the professional staff whose responsibility it is to ensure that
safety and protection with all of the tools they need to effectively carry out their
responsibilities," Geoffroy wrote.
The faculty senates at ISU and the UI supported the recommendation, while the
UNI Faculty Senate opposed it. The student governments at ISU and the UI also
supported the recommendation.