Letter: Student calls for arming of URI police

02/27/09 - To the Cigar,

The comment made by Lynne Derbyshire in the article "Arming Campus Police Evokes Mixed Opinions" is simply absurd.

Any student at URI in danger from an armed police officer has only one person to blame, themselves. Be them colored, white or otherwise, the situations that lead officers to draw their weapons are not situations that any URI student should be in.

I view the arming-campuspolice situation as a very selfish issue. We don't have the cooks in the dining halls cooking without pots and pans, and we don't have repairmen on campus working without tools. Why should our police officers be required to do their jobs without their tools?

Our campus police are here 24/7, and if a situation involving an active shooter did arise, they would be faster to respond, and are much more knowledgeable of the terrain and buildings of the Kingston Campus. How can we not provide our police officers with the tools to do their jobs, when their job is protecting our safety?

Having no armed officers on campus is irresponsible to the students and faculty of URI, and the officers themselves. We know all too well the consequences of not responding to weapon emergencies promptly and in correct fashion, and I hope these are emergencies that never grace URI's campus.



Edward DeArruda