George Washington University May Arm Campus Police
The George Washington University is considering arming its campus police officers with firearms, according to a recent article in The GW Hatchet.
GWU President Steven Knapp told The Hatchet that he would make a decision on the issue at the end of the academic year. A consultant group hired by the university has been weighing the pros and cons of arming campus police officers, and will soon be making a final recommendation to President Knapp.
Knapp cited the Virginia Tech shootings two years ago as an event that affected his view of campus security.
President Knapp’s office has encouraged public input on this issue, and students have the ability to email the consultants to express their views.
Department of Public Safety officers at Georgetown University are not equipped with firearms.
“In an effort to bolster campus safety and security, DPS officers began wearing protective vests and carrying self-defense sprays and batons last year,” said Andy Pino, director of Georgetown media relations.
Pino also stated that there is no discussion about further arming DPS officers.
Corrections: The title of this story incorrectly stated that George Washington University may arm their campus security forces. In fact GWU officials are considering arming their campus police officers, not their security officers.
Apr 26 2009 at 11:08 a.m.
The George Washington University Police Department is a full fledged police force that acts and maintains the standards of any other police department in the United States.
Thus your statement "George Washington University May Arm Campus Security" is very incorrect. GW has no plans to arm their security personnel, who are completely different from their police personnel. Yes, that is correct, GW has both police officers and security officers who work for the university. The only people who will be armed are the police officers, who meet or exceed the same training standards and have the same authority and responsibilities as any other police officer.
Once again, The Hoya didn't do proper research before writing an article and just ASSUMING that the whole world is operated like Georgetown University.