George Washington University to Arm Campus Police, Over Objections of Students and Faculty
“This is an attack on the poor and the working class. This is an attack on DC residents, who will almost certainly be brutalized by an armed GWPD.”
Violent crime is on the rise in Washington, DC but the campus left doesn’t want to hear it.
The College Fix reports:
Citing ‘rising gun violence,’ GWU to arm campus police despite student protests
George Washington University will begin arming some of its police officers this fall amid objections by some students and faculty that the move will “harm” the campus community.
But citing “rising gun violence,” administrators stated giving their police officers firearms is the only way to effectively protect the campus.
On Monday, the university said two executive supervisory officers from the GWU Police Department will be armed, and more will join them in the future if all goes well, according to a campus news release.
The ultimate plan, administrators said, is to arm about 20 of the 50 campus officers, The College Fix reported in April. Each armed officer will receive extensive training, including in implicit bias.
Leaders of the Washington, D.C. school said they believe the change will better equip officers to respond to life-threatening emergencies on campus, especially with “rising gun violence” across the region and the nation.
Responding to the announcement, GWU Law School Professor John Banzhaf said in a news release most universities arm all their campus police, and “deranged-shooter-on-campus situations elsewhere have had to be resolved by the use of deadly force.”
Banzhaf said there is no evidence protesters’ “naïve,” “Kumbaya” suggested responses to violence – such as “nonviolent communication” and “bystander intervention skills” – will protect students.
First announced in April, the decision to arm campus police quickly drew criticism from a contingent of students and faculty. Hundreds participated in a protest later that month, The Fix reported at the time.
“This is an attack on black and brown students,” the progressive campus group Students Against Imperialism wrote on Instagram in a post announcing the protest. “This is an attack on the poor and the working class. This is an attack on DC residents, who will almost certainly be brutalized by an armed GWPD.”
More than 700 people also signed a petition demanding GWU reverse the decision, arguing it “will not prevent gun violence, but rather serve to escalate conflicts.”
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
I am retired but decided to take some college classes.
The school has never had an on campus shooting yet the officers (mostly parking enforcement) are armed. I’ve no problem with that.
But concealed carry permit holders are restricted from carrying. Worse, we can’t possess on campus. I’ve always installed metal lockboxes in my trucks and I stop off campus and lock it up. But it is expensive and trunks aren’t secure.
1) Why are the campus police armed if there is no threat? Just want to intimidate a bunch of kids?
2) If there is a threat, why am I not allowed to protect myself? Courts have held that LE isn’t responsible for failing to protect you.
In my opinion, any place that wants to disarm you should be required:
A) Legally protect you including liability if they fail.
B) Provide a suitable place to lock up firearms. This is especially true for government buildings. I can choose not to shop at Target, but I must go to the Driver’s license bureau.
Note that the federal Gun Free School Zones Act doesn’t apply to any educational instutitions beyond high schools. When you are forbidden to carry on campus, the blameful party is your state, county, city, or (in some cases) solely the school administration itself.
It’ll cost >$100,000 to attend GWU.
Respectfully, does it ever occur to any of these kids or their families that there might be better ways to use >$100,000?
https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?131469-George-Washington-University
Does going to college make you dumber or is it an entrance requirement?