With a University of Rhode Island public school in the state becoming the only public college in the state to arm its campus police officers, a lawmaker is calling for other public colleges to follow suit.
Here is the full press release:
Rep. O’Brien cites Georgia school shooting for need of arming campus police at public colleges
STATE HOUSE – Rep. William W. O’Brien says yesterday’s mass shooting at a Georgia high school clearly demonstrates the need for arming of campus police officers at the state’s public colleges. He has introduced legislation mandating it for the past several legislative sessions.
“This latest heinous attack on another school shows that we are unfortunately living in a time when armed security is becoming more necessary to protect the safety and wellbeing of our students. If a situation like this or worse were to happen on the campuses of RIC or CCRI, our students, staff and visitors would be defenseless while waiting for the police to arrive. How many more warning signs do we need before we take safety seriously at RIC and CCRI, whose security staff is only armed with handcuffs and pepper spray? Does tragedy need to strike before responsible campus safety action is taken? The administrations of both these institutions need to face the reality that there are dangerous people who wish to do harm on soft targets such as these schools and the only way to ensure safety is by properly arming their campus police with firearms and tasers. We need to hope for the best but prepare for the worst and right now, we are not prepared,” said Representative O’Brien (D-Dist. 54, North Providence).
Currently, the University of Rhode Island is the only public institute of higher education that has armed its campus police officers. URI instituted this policy in 2015. Representative O’Brien notes that Brown University in Providence, a private institution, also has campus police officers that carry firearms.
“As a member of the House Finance Committee, I will be watching both RIC and CCRI’s budget requests very closely because for the past few years, the cost of arming their police officers has been cited as the reason for not protecting the campuses properly. The safety and security of those on campus should be the school’s highest priority and once again I urge the CCRI and RIC administrations to do the right thing and protect their campuses,” added Representative O’Brien.
Representative O’Brien also emphasizes that Rosemary Costigan, the interim president of CCRI, and Dr. Jack R. Warner, the president of RIC, already possess the authority to arm their campus police officers but refuse to do so.
In the wake of a mass shooting at a Georgia high school last week, state Rep. William O’Brien said that the only way to protect students, faculty and staff on campuses like the University of Rhode Island and Brown University, which are private, is to arm their campus police officers with guns and tasers.
“This latest heinous attack on another school shows that we are unfortunately living in a time when armed security is becoming more necessary to protect the safety and wellbeing of our students,” said O’Brien, D- Providence.
If a situation like this or worse were to happen on the campuses of RIC or CCRI, our students, staff, and visitors would be defenseless while waiting for the police to arrive. Currently, only the University of Rhode Island has armed its campus police officers, a policy that began in 2015. Brown University, a private institution, also has campus police officers who carry guns, but other public colleges and universities have not yet taken that step.
O’Brien said that because of the cost of arming campus police officers, it has been cited as a reason why other institutions have not taken the same step. He said that he will watch the budget requests for the University of Rhode Island and Brown University to see if the cost of arming campus police officers is a factor. “As a member of the House Finance Committee, I will be watching both RIC and CCRI’s budget requests very closely because for the past few years, the cost of arming their police officers has been cited as the reason for not protecting the campuses properly,” he said. “The safety and security of those on campus should be the school’s highest priority and once again I urge the CCRI and RIC administrations to do the right thing and protect their campuses.”
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.