2008 Woodie Awards
Security unarmed
Administrators consider arming security officers, find guns unneeded
Aaron Hummel
Issue date: 9/13/07 Section: News
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Hillsdale security officers are currently unarmed.
The daily objective of campus security personnel is to be a "presence" on campus, according to Director of Security Mike Wertz, and security officers achieve that mainly through patrols and nighttime building monitors. But some students wish security officers would project a more potent influence by carrying weapons on their patrol circuits instead of just a radio.
"I think they probably should [carry weapons]," sophomore Daniel Chasen said. "In a town like this I think it would be a good idea."
Being unarmed makes it diffuclt for campus security to immediately stop a violent crime. But though the administration has increasingly considered arming security officers since the Virginia Tech shooting last spring, it doesn't want students to feel uneasy.
"Since Virginia Tech, we've continued to have a conversation, and we've never stopped having a conversation about that particular issue," said Rich Péwé, vice president of administration. "We have to be sensitive to whether or not students would feel comfortable with open carrying.
"We just don't ever want to be in a situation where we can't respond," Péwé said, but we also have a wonderful relationship with our local law enforcement, and communication there is very quick and swift. They're here if we need them."
Wertz believes the rapid response time of city and county law enforcement makes arming campus security personnel unnecessary.
"Do I think that we need to be carrying?" he asked. "Negative, because we have a two minute response time for any law enforcement."
Some students are glad campus security personnel are unarmed.
"I feel like there would never be a situation where you would need [a gun]," senior Pete Smith said. "The problem becomes if you have a gun, you want to use it."
Although security officers also patrol without weapons at Albion College, a small liberal arts school with 1,950 students in Albion, Mich., they did carry guns until a student was accidentally shot and killed by an officer trying to stop him from committing a crime in the early 1970s.
The daily objective of campus security personnel is to be a "presence" on campus, according to Director of Security Mike Wertz, and security officers achieve that mainly through patrols and nighttime building monitors. But some students wish security officers would project a more potent influence by carrying weapons on their patrol circuits instead of just a radio.
"I think they probably should [carry weapons]," sophomore Daniel Chasen said. "In a town like this I think it would be a good idea."
Being unarmed makes it diffuclt for campus security to immediately stop a violent crime. But though the administration has increasingly considered arming security officers since the Virginia Tech shooting last spring, it doesn't want students to feel uneasy.
"Since Virginia Tech, we've continued to have a conversation, and we've never stopped having a conversation about that particular issue," said Rich Péwé, vice president of administration. "We have to be sensitive to whether or not students would feel comfortable with open carrying.
"We just don't ever want to be in a situation where we can't respond," Péwé said, but we also have a wonderful relationship with our local law enforcement, and communication there is very quick and swift. They're here if we need them."
Wertz believes the rapid response time of city and county law enforcement makes arming campus security personnel unnecessary.
"Do I think that we need to be carrying?" he asked. "Negative, because we have a two minute response time for any law enforcement."
Some students are glad campus security personnel are unarmed.
"I feel like there would never be a situation where you would need [a gun]," senior Pete Smith said. "The problem becomes if you have a gun, you want to use it."
Although security officers also patrol without weapons at Albion College, a small liberal arts school with 1,950 students in Albion, Mich., they did carry guns until a student was accidentally shot and killed by an officer trying to stop him from committing a crime in the early 1970s.
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