Arming campus police evokes mixed opinions

02/26/09 - With the completion of yesterday's open police arms forum, it's up to the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education to make a decision on whether to arm the campus police at the state higher education institutions.Students, faculty and the public were invited to voice their individual opinions to the panel from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The meeting, held in Atrium 1 of Memorial Union at the University of Rhode Island Kingston campus, had a large turnout with more faculty members than students.

It was the fourth public forum to be held on the matter. The others were held at the URI Feinstein Providence, the Community College of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island College campuses.

A total of 28 people stood behind the microphone to announce their opposition or support.

Michael Donohue, a URI police officer, was in favor of giving campus police guns. "Parents assume that we have the necessary means to keep their child safe, but we don't," Donohue said

The URI Police Department received arrest powers in 1980, nine years before Donohue joined the force. "Back in those days, people used their fists," he said.

"When a suspect enters deadly force in a situation, we do not have the force to meet them," Donohue said. "We, the police, become victims as well."

Donohue cited four instances when weapons were involved with URI students.

The first, he said, occurred on Oct. 5, 1997 when there was a gang-related incident, resulting in four shots fired on the Kingston campus.

The second, he said, involved four shots also being fired during a road rage incident in December of 1999.

The last two instances occurred within the past four years. Donohue said the police could have used weapons during the stabbing that occurred in September of 2007 in the Memorial Union ballroom during a dance and in light of a search of a URI student's vehicle.

"I believe that police have to protect themselves, but I don't know if it's necessary for them to be armed," said junior Seth Steinman, a URI student, tour guide and a resident of South Kingstown.

Gail Faris, the assistant director of the URI Women's Center, said "with an armed police department in such close proximity, campuses have been able to use these as a viable resource rather than arming campus police."

"The URI Police Department is very professional," Narragansett Police Chief Joseph Little said. "What URI is asking the URI Police Department to do is counter-intuitive to their situation, to go into the situation and resolve the situation."

Little, who has been in the police force for 28 years and lives in South Kingston with his family, believes the campus police should be armed.

"I wouldn't expect the Kingstown Fire Department to give up their ladders because it's cheaper," Little said.

"I have full confidence in the URI Police Department to verbally-disarm an armed person, or call the South Kingston Police Department for backup if needed," freshman Zeno Trocchi said.

David Nelson, also freshman at URI, said, "It's something to be proud of, to be one of the few campuses left with our police department to be unarmed."

Lynne Derbyshire, a URI faculty member for the past 22 years and a resident of Narragansett, said she does not support providing URI police officers with proper training and guns.

"By arming our police officers, our students of color are being put at more danger than white students," Derbyshire said.

Rhode Island College Police Lt. Charles Wilson was not pleased with many of the statements. "I can stand here and tell you without any degree of uncertainty that those opposed have no factual or informative evidence to support their view," Wilson said. "It is a professional tool that is afforded to every single law enforcement officer. If you determine that you do not require the URI police department to provide the highest level of service, than live with the consequences of your actions. This is not a spectator sport."

During the forum, URI Director of Planning Services Abu Bakr, URI professor of sociology Leo Carroll and URI Police Maj. Stephen Baker served on the panel.

John R. Pagliarini, the Associate Commissioner for Higher Education, is the chairman of the Board of Governors.

Steven Maurano, the Board's Associate Commissioner for External Affairs, gave a slideshow presentation during the forum, which included statistics on campus security across the country.

One study in 2002 was conducted to aid the board in its initial decision to arm campus police in the state.

In 2006, Brown University became the only Rhode Island higher education institution with its own armed police force.

"There are more off-campus people coming here, especially from Providence," Dennis Hilliard, the director of the State Crime Lab and an adjunct assistant professor at URI, said.

According to Hilliard, the Crime Lab's backlog has increased dramatically during the last four to five years. "It's about officer safety," he said. "The likelihood of a police officer becoming a victim is higher today."

In May of 2007, Rhode Island security officials from the state's 11 colleges and universities met.

During the summer and fall of 2007, several Rhode Island institutions, including URI, upgraded their emergency policy

From 2004 to 2005 the U.S. Justice Department determined from its studies that 86 percent of four-year public institutions have armed campus police officers and homicide rates per year in the United States have been continuously on the rise since 2000.

From 2000 to 2005, four homicides were reported on campuses across the country. In 2006, that number jumped to eight homicides. Not including the Virginia Tech incident, 12 homicides were reported in 2007.