NCJ Number
203627
Journal
Campus Law Enforcement Journal Volume: 33 Issue: 5 Dated: September/October 2003 Pages: 18-20,22
Date Published
September 2003
Length
4 pages
Annotation
After reviewing the history of campus security services at Lincoln University, whose main campus is located on 422 acres in a rural community about 40 miles southwest of Philadelphia, this article describes the steps taken by the campus Public Safety Department to secure the Board of Trustees approval for arming campus security officers.
Abstract
Although Lincoln is a rural campus, it recruits students from the major urban centers in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the country. Several major county and State highways border the campus, and I-95 is just minutes away. These factors have sometimes contributed to urban-type problems on campus. Campus parties and other events have sometimes become dangerous affairs, with numerous fights both during and after the events, including several instances of people displaying or even firing guns on campus. When incidents got out of control, the Pennsylvania State Police were forced to respond, which produced the additional problem of a predominantly White police force responding to a volatile scene in which almost all participants were Black. This often produced fuel added to a fire. A new Public Safety Director, Larry Woods, was hired in April 2002 under a clear mandate to establish a bona-fide law enforcement presence at Lincoln University. He began recruiting sworn police officers with full arrest powers and complete jurisdiction on the campus. He believed such officers should have the full capability of any sworn police officer, including being armed. Woods began plans to secure the approval of the Lincoln Board of Trustees for the arming of campus officers. The first step in the plan was to submit a purchase requisition for firearms. Although the vice president signed the requisition, he believed approval should be obtained from the Board of Trustees. Two weeks prior to the trustees meeting, every member of the Board received a binder from the Public Safety Department that contained the reasons for the arming resolution. Among the reasons were the presence of campus incidents that involved a firearm or an edged weapon, the current inability of campus officers to deal with armed intruders, the increasing trend toward gun violence on college campuses in general, the strict training and policy guidelines that would prepare and guide officers in the use of their firearms, and the results of a survey that showed the prevalence of armed sworn police officers on college campuses in Pennsylvania. The Board of Trustees approved the proposal.