HOLYOKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Board of Trustees
FROM:
William J. Fogarty, Vice President for Administration & Finance
Ralph Gould, Director of Public Safety
DATE:
April 12, 2013
SUBJECT:
Firearms and Campus Police
We are putting before the Board of Trustees a proposal to consider authorizing Campus Police to
carry firearms. If the Board provides such authorization, that action will initiate a process that
will include formulation of detailed policies and protocols, procurement, collective bargaining,
training and evaluation, all of which will need to occur before implementation.
Discussion of this topic dates back to a 2008 report by the Massachusetts Department of Higher
Education (DHE) following the shooting tragedy at Virginia Technical University. The DHE
established a working group on campus safety, which in turn retained Applied Risk Management
(ARM) to conduct a study and report on best practices. Of the report’s 28 recommendations,
number 10 states that “sworn campus police officers should be armed and trained in the use of
personal or specialized firearms.”
We believe that our campus continues to be safe, but events in recent years have highlighted the
fact that acts of violence can occur anywhere. This proposal is one of a many steps the College
is considering to ensure its ability to respond to emergency events.
Rationale for Proposal
1. While we believe that the campus is safe, the sheer number of people present on our
campus suggests that the college should be prepared in the unlikely event that an incident of
weapons violence occurs. We do not view this in any way as a reflection on our campus
community or the City of Holyoke.
2. Holyoke Community College Police are sworn officers under Chapter 22C, Section 63 of
the Massachusetts General Laws, and, as such, the ARM Report recommendation
referenced above applies.
3. Prior to the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School, standard police protocol involved
securing the perimeter and waiting for a tactical team to neutralize the threat. Due to the
loss of life that resulted from this approach, the standard response has evolved to provide
for intervention by armed police officers as quickly as possible.
4. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security document “Active Shooter, How to Respond,”
notes that active shooter situations are often over within 10 to 15 minutes.
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April 12, 2013
5. As an unarmed force, HCC Campus Police currently could only call for assistance from the
State Police or the Holyoke Police Department and secure the perimeter. Campus Police
could not intervene to save lives.
6. Requests for response to the Holyoke Police Department and the State Police will consume
precious time, as will the need to meet responders and direct them to an emergency location
on campus.
7. The City of Holyoke has a relatively large municipal police department. However, at any
given point in time there may be only one patrol car assigned to the general area that
includes the campus, and even that patrol may not be near the campus depending on service
demands at the time. The College recently experienced waits of 5 to 10 minutes for
ambulance response from as close by as the Holyoke Medical Center.
8. The campus is located at the south edge of the Northampton barracks State Police patrol
sector and is just outside the north edge of the Springfield barracks patrol sector. There is
no way to predict the locations of State Police patrols at any given point in time.
Implementation Steps
If the Board of Trustees approves this proposal, the college will undertake the following steps
toward implementation:
1. Begin collective bargaining with the American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the union representing Campus Police Officers.
2. Develop detailed protocols concerning the issuance, use and storage of firearms.
3. Procure firearms, related equipment and storage facilities.
4. Undertake firearms training for Campus Police Officers and set a schedule for refresher
training.
5. Undertake psychological evaluations for Campus Police Officers.
6. Undertake drug screening for all Campus Police Officers and provide for random tests in
the future.
7. Certify which officers qualify to carry firearms.
Massachusetts Public Higher Education
While the 2008 ARM report recommends arming campus police, in 2010 staff at the DHE
clarified to President Wayne Burton of North Shore Community College that the intent of the
recommendation is for each college to develop the capacity for an armed response, and noted
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that this can be accomplished by arming campus police or through mutual agreements with local
police department and/or other law enforcement entities.
Among public higher education institutions in Massachusetts, all of the University of
Massachusetts campuses and all of the state universities have armed campus police departments.
Among community colleges, only Massasoit Community College has an armed police force, and
at Mt. Wachusett, the Chief is armed. It is our understanding that three other campuses have had
discussions regarding arming their forces in recent months and one has considered hiring
municipal police details.
Questions Posed by Trustees
The following questions were posed by Mr. Ferriter:
1. What are other colleges doing? Response: Public higher education in Massachusetts is
discussed in the previous section. Looking at a broader picture, the Campus Safety 2013
Yearbook, from a survey of 632 campus protection professionals, reports that 30% of
campus police forces are armed with lethal weapons, 13% are armed with less-lethal
weapons (pepper spray, tasers, batons, etc.), 25% are armed with lethal and less-lethal
weapons, and 32% don’t carry lethal or less-lethal weapons.
2. What are other community colleges in Massachusetts doing? Response: This is discussed
in the previous section.
3. What would you plan to do before arming officers (background and psychological
testing)? Response: This is covered in the “Implementation Steps” section above.
4. What do municipal police departments do for background and psychological testing?
Response: There is no mandatory standard in Massachusetts, except for a criminal
history check to ensure no convictions for certain felonies. Many small departments do
not do any psychological testing, often due to cost. The Massachusetts State Police do a
yearly criminal and restraining order check on all officers sworn in as Special State
Police.
5. Can our campus security become “police?” Response: As mentioned in the “Rationale
for Proposal” section above, HCC Campus Police Officers are sworn officers under
Chapter 22C, Section 63 of the Massachusetts General Laws. Under this section they are
designated “special state police officers” who “have the same power to make arrests as
regular police officers for any criminal offense committed in or upon land or structures
owned, used of occupied by such college.”
6. What would you budget for the next five years and how would you fund in the current
year? Response: If the Board of Trustees approves this proposal, expenditures for
implementation would occur after July 1, 2013, the start of FY 2014. We project $30,000
in one-time equipment costs and $5,000 in training and evaluation expenses. In the
following four years we anticipate costs of $3,000 per year for ongoing training and
testing costs. The cost is very hard to “lock in” right now due to the varying costs of
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firearms and ammunition almost daily. Some departments have even had to go on a
waiting list to receive ammunition.
The following question was posed by Ms. Pokela:
1.
I’d be interested in any research that has been done on deaths and injuries among
bystanders when police/security forces use guns. Response: We have not been able to
locate any state, regional or national statistics that address this question, but will continue
searching.
Questions Posed by Campus Community
Questions from the campus community are listed exactly as written even when references are
technically incorrect. For example, if a question refers to Campus Police as “security officers,”
that term is used below even though officers are categorized as special state police under state
law and are classified as Campus Police Officers under the collective bargaining agreement
between the Commonwealth and AFSCME.
1. Since members of our security force were originally hired not as armed police, but as
enforcers of campus security policies, we are concerned about the training process
necessary to bring our officers up to the standards and training criteria of local police
forces. Response: As stated in response to Mr. Ferriter’s fifth question, our campus
police are special state police officers who have arrest powers on property owned or used
by the college. All current members of the Campus Police were hired as police, not
security, officers to enforce laws as well as policies. There are minimum training/
education standards to obtain Special State Police powers. A candidate may have
attended an approved “Reserve/Intermittent Police Officer” training combined with at
least an associate’s degree. This is the same training that qualifies part-time officers in
municipal departments. The class curriculum is approved by the Municipal Police
Training Committee, and administered by the Western Mass Chiefs of Police. The other
option is attending a recruit session for Special State Police or a municipal recruit
academy. Currently 7 officers were trained in the Reserve/Intermittent program, 4 at the
SSPO academy and the Chief attended the municipal recruit training. Officers receive
yearly “In Service” as well as specialized training. This has included defensive tactics,
riot/crowd control training, legal updates and a host of other classes. The proposal
includes contracting for initial psychological testing with testing thereafter as deemed
necessary. There will be initial drug screening followed with random testing on an
ongoing basis. Campus Police will take recruit level firearms training including Use of
Force training, firearms nomenclature, and extensive range shooting with certified
instructors. Yearly re-qualification would be mandated.
2. What would the cost of training, weapons and ammunition necessary to put this initiative
in effect. Where would the funding come from? Will other areas be cut, and if so, what
areas? Response: Please see the response to Mr. Ferriter’s sixth question. The costs
would be paid from the College Trust Fund. We do not anticipate cutting other programs
to fund this proposal.
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3. We see a difference between campus security personnel and local police forces. Our
security force is not facing life and death circumstances on a daily basis. Once armed,
how would our campus security force keep themselves alert and prepared for unexpected
deadly interventions? Response: Contrary to most perceptions, municipal officers do not
engage in life and death circumstances on a daily basis. The following excerpt is taken
from the 2011 annual firearms discharge report for New York City: “ in a city of 8.2
million people, from a Department of nearly 35,000 uniformed members who interacted
with citizens in approximately 23 million instances, 62 officers were involved in 36
incidents of intentional firearms discharges during an adversarial conflict.” As this report
shows, even in NYC, officers do not daily face “life and death” encounters. The officers
at HCC routinely respond to calls related to fights, possible weapons violations, drug
violations and suspicious persons. By nature of the profession, the officers need a high
degree of vigilance going to “routine” calls that can transition to a more dangerous
situation.
4. If the college is victimized by shooters with high capacity assault weapons, will hand
guns be effective? Response: That type of encounter would have many variables, such as
location, number of hostile suspects, number of officers, availability of concealment or
cover and so on. Many departments provide shotguns or patrol rifles to officers. These
weapons are normally locked in a fixed location in a patrol vehicle, or are kept in a
department for use when an active shooter call comes in. However, on routine calls,
municipal officers only have their side arms available unless the call information is very
specific. In the case of a call with a high capacity rifle, it is best to respond in kind.
However officers do not always know how someone is armed until arrival.
5. In order to provide an atmosphere where we at HCC feel safe and protected, are other
options available to use besides arming our campus security? Response: The College is
pursuing several initiatives in the area of security and emergency response, all of which
contribute to a safer campus. These efforts should continue whether or not Campus
Police are issued firearms. This particular proposal is being put forth in order to provide
for a quick response to an incident of armed violence on campus. We are aware that one
other community college campus is considering hiring off-duty local police to patrol the
campus on an extra duty basis.
6. Faculty mentioned their understanding of research that points to armed security forces not
leading to effective protection on campuses. Is this opinion supported by current
research? Response: We are not aware of research that supports that conclusion but
would certainly review any such studies. We do refer to the 2008 Applied Risk
Management Report to the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education titled
“Campus Violence Prevention and Response: Best Practices for Massachusetts Higher
Education.” In connection with the recommendation to arm Campus Police, the report
states the following:
Given the enormous consequences of a campus shooting (previously discussed in
this report), coupled with the nationally recognized and proven best practice
response requiring the first officers on the scene to neutralize the shooter
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aggressively, it is highly recommended that all police officers on campus be
armed and trained in the use of personal and specialized firearms.
7. Could you please clarify the timeline for recommendation, approval and implementation
of armed security? As I understand it, the administration will be making a
recommendation to the Board of Trustees for their approval. When will this
recommendation take place? Additionally, does the administration have criteria upon
which they are basing this recommendation? And if so, what is it? Response: The
proposal was first discussed with the Board of Trustees at the March 26 meeting and the
Board appointed a committee to discuss the matter. The administration is submitting a
written proposal via this memorandum. The timing of consideration is at the Board’s
discretion. The recommendation is based on the criteria that most incidents of armed
violence occur within a 10 to 15 minute timeframe, and intervention during that
timeframe is critical to saving lives. Given potential response times from the Holyoke or
State Police, the recommendation to arm Campus Police is being made to provide the
quickest response to save lives and prevent injury.
8. Are any other discussions about this issue being planned? Response: At the March 13
Professional Association meeting President Messner invited the campus community to
discuss this issue in division and other forums and welcomed any resulting input. The
questions listed here are those that have been submitted to date.
9. What types of arms are being considered and who is making this decision? Will there be
both automatic and semi-automatic arms employed? Where will they be stored and who
will have access? Response: Full automatic weapons are not proposed and are not
routinely issued. Most departments use semi-automatic side arms and rifles. The two
weapons widely in use are manufactured by Sigarms or Smith & Wesson. A decision on
the model and caliber could be obtained after gaining input from local municipal
departments and the State Police.
10. For lack of a better term, will arming the security be “the new normal?’ Will this be a
permanent or temporary change? Will there be any evaluation of the efficacy of this
strategy? And, if so, who will conduct the assessment? Response: This is not being
proposed as a provisional program, although the Board of Trustees will make the final
decision. Regarding its evaluation, one of the challenges of emergency response
planning is the preparation for events that you hope will never occur. The “efficacy of
this strategy” would be the ability to respond to an active shooter on campus in a way that
minimizes injury and loss of life, something we hope will never happen. If it does occur,
the results will certainly be reviewed and analyzed.
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