As opposed to what was initially expected, Public Safety officers will not be armed on campus until the Board approves.
This motion was passed at the Board of Governors meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 25 in Blum 220.
Torn between both sides, some board members could not decide if giving officers access to firearms would actually make a difference, or if it would in fact make students and faculty feel safer on campus.
Patt Lilly, vice chair of the Board of Governors, expressed his concerns about giving officers immediate access to firearms.
“I think we are putting the cart before the horse,” Lilly said.
He would like to see all business matters taken care of first, rather than everyone jumping into this too quickly.
He said everyone is saying officers should be armed, but the “housekeeping” matters are not actually being taken care of.
He would feel better if we weren’t rushing into it.
Other Task Force members believe this is a good idea; arming officers right away should not be a problem.
One concern with the board was that cross cultural communication would be challenging, and members wondered if arming DPS officers would inhibit this further.
Beth Wheeler, director of external relations, said this has been taken into consideration.
“Officers have done some cross-cultural training,” Wheeler said.
She said they have started attending student events such as SGA meetings and NAACP meetings to get more engaged on that level with students.
Western is considering changing the title of DPS officers from “Public Safety” to “University Police.”
One MWSU public safety department officer qualification is that all Western DPS officers are P.O.S.T certified Police Officers commissioned by the state of Missouri.
SGA President Natalie Bailey stressed that officers are experienced enough and capable of handling weapons, and that they never go without training.
“They [public safety officers] still have to practice every year, even if they’ve already been working on campus,” Bailey said.
A few concerns regarding the arming of officers were that it might increase the perception of officers seeming to be oppressive and there would be consequences and liability for accidental or improper use.
However, arming officers would provide the tools needed to respond to a threat, the response time to situations would be quicker without having to await the St. Joseph Police Department’s arrival and it would reduce liability by being able to provide adequate protection to the community.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice Findings (1995), 81 percent of the public campuses in the U.S. have armed police officers.
All public universities in Missouri with commissioned police officers have armed officers, except for Western.
Essentially, the issue with arming officers offered more opportunities than concerns.
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