Des Moines Register
09-12-07
U of I president recommends arming police
ERIN JORDAN
REGISTER IOWA CITY BUREAU
University of Iowa President Sally Mason has recommended that the Iowa Board
of Regents change is 40-year policy prohibiting campus police from carrying
guns.
The regents will consider recommendations from Mason and the presidents of
Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa when discussing
this issue Tuesday in Council Bluffs.
Mason's recommendation, released by the U of I today, states:
"I recommend to the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, that certified police officers
employed by the police division of the University of Iowa be authorized to carry
firearms as standard equipment when serving as a police officer, subject to
stringent training and recertification requirements."
Mason said she consulted with campus groups, including faculty, staff and
students and relied on her experience on large university campuses, including
Purdue University and the University of Kansas.
She cited as reasons for her decision that campus police have the same training
as all other police officers and that campus police deal with dangerous situations
in which they cannot adequately defend the campus if they have to return to their
office to get a gun.
The U of I, ISU and UNI are the only universities in their respective conferences
that do not allow their officers to regularly carry firearms.