Brandeis decides to arm campus public safety officers

[abiffmaster]

WALTHAM, Mass., Sept. 17, 2007 -- Brandeis University has announced that it has begun implementing a committee’s recommendation that its public safety officers should carry firearms on the school’s campus.

Brandeis President Jehuda Reinharz said that he has accepted the recommendation of the specially convened eight-member firearms panel and has instructed the school’s executive vice president and chief operating officer to take the steps needed to arm the officers. The committee, in recommending the officers be armed, noted that the officers would be required to go through the same extensive training/psychological evaluations, recertification, and background checks as city or state police. Brandeis’s public safety officers are trained at the Massachusetts State Police Academy.

“…we all feel the pressure to provide a safer environment as quickly as possible for our university,” the committee’s report says. The committee included two undergraduate students and a graduate student, two faculty members and two staff members, and was chaired by Peter French, executive vice president and chief operating officer.

read the whole article here: http://my.brandeis.edu/news/item?news_item_id=11119

 

[Big_Red]

I guess it is a step in the right direction even if it is only a baby step.

 

[JonJ]

I guess it is a step in the right direction even if it is only a baby step.

Trouble is it'll be the only step in this Hell hole of a state.

 

[Big_Red]

Trouble is it'll be the only step in this Hell hole of a state.

I hope not but you are probably right.

 

[drgrant]

They have to have a huge committee to decide that campus
LEOs carrying guns is the right thing to do?

The sad thing is I'm sure theres some "guh buh wuh OH NOES!" gun
banning feminazi douchebag liberals at that place that will complain up
and down the first time they see a campus officer with a gun.

-Mike

 

[Len-2A Training]

They have to have a huge committee to decide that campus
LEOs carrying guns is the right thing to do?

The sad thing is I'm sure theres some "guh buh wuh OH NOES!" gun
banning feminazi douchebag liberals at that place that will complain up
and down the first time they see a campus officer with a gun.

-Mike

Mike, are you kidding!

It's a JEWISH COLLEGE!! It's likely made up of 99.99999% gun-banners from top to bottom. As a Jew, I seriously know almost no other Jew (outside of my shooting clubs/forums circle) that is pro-gun.

I expect them to go apoplectic long before they ever catch sight of a campus officer with a gun on his/her belt.

 

[Jose]

I've asked this before but it still baffles me SO that I need to say it again.

The Jeweish people, OF ALL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, should be as a group the most ardent supporters of affirming the right of individuals to have the means to resist tryranny and oppression. In other words, there should be no group of people on earth more hostile to any notion of disarming the individual.

Why, at least in America, is the opposite true I will never understand. It just simply defies all logic and commons sense.

 

[Jose]

BTW, what's the student to cop ratio at Brandeis?

This is a good first step, but it probably amounts to peeing in the ocean to make the tide flow.

 

[FeeBear]

BTW, what's the student to cop ratio at Brandeis?

This is a good first step, but it probably amounts to peeing in the ocean to make the tide flow.

Can I borrow that quote? That was good.

Fee

 

[Garys]

The Jeweish people, OF ALL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, should be as a group the most ardent supporters of affirming the right of individuals to have the means to resist tryranny and oppression. In other words, there should be no group of people on earth more hostile to any notion of disarming the individual.

Why, at least in America, is the opposite true I will never understand. It just simply defies all logic and commons sense.

You'd think we'd learn by now, but apparently we're not the super bright people that everyone thinks we are.

How many times are the people that we live amongst going to have to turn against us before we learn this lesson? BTW, I'd confine this to US Jews as I think the Israelis have this one figured out pretty well. Jews tend to be liberal, and with that goes an anti gun stance.

Just another triumph of ideals over experience, I guess.

Gary

 

[SiameseRat]

Egan & Broude did a whole thing on this earlier in the week. I was happy to hear a parent of a Brandeis student calling in support of it. But it's just ridiculous that they're not armed already...

 

[KMaurer]

Trouble is it'll be the only step in this Hell hole of a state.

It's all up to them. The only thing stopping licensed gun owners from being able to carry legally on campus is the Administration. All it would take would be for a pillar of fire to appear outside the administration building and G-d engaging in a serious heart to heart with Reinharz, probably involving mention of frogs, locust, boils, and possibly first-born.

Ken

 

[Will Brink]

I've asked this before but it still baffles me SO that I need to say it again.

The Jeweish people, OF ALL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, should be as a group the most ardent supporters of affirming the right of individuals to have the means to resist tryranny and oppression. In other words, there should be no group of people on earth more hostile to any notion of disarming the individual.

Why, at least in America, is the opposite true I will never understand. It just simply defies all logic and commons sense.

Agreed, but some Jews do "get it." See:

http://www.jpfo.org/

Of course in Israel, they don't share the anti gun view in the least and know they are a tool that can mean the difference between life and death. I'm not Jewish, and it boggles the mind how one Jew on the planet would not be pro gun. As Jacky Mason said "anyone who is for gun control is an f-ing moron." He's also a Jew who gets it....

 

[jar]

I had no idea that there were unarmed campus police. When I saw the subject line, I thought they were talking about some sort of safety officials other than the campus police. At WPI, the campus police were armed, and I never gave it a thought. (Other than to joke about the officer who had 6 mag pouches on his belt.

How do campus police officers in general compare to regular city/town officers as far as powers, policies, and qualifications? I know that WPI's police, for example didn't have the power to write real traffic citations. However, I did see in the police log occasionally that they'd respond to back up WPD on nearby calls.

 

[Len-2A Training]

I had no idea that there were unarmed campus police. When I saw the subject line, I thought they were talking about some sort of safety officials other than the campus police. At WPI, the campus police were armed, and I never gave it a thought. (Other than to joke about the officer who had 6 mag pouches on his belt.

How do campus police officers in general compare to regular city/town officers as far as powers, policies, and qualifications? I know that WPI's police, for example didn't have the power to write real traffic citations. However, I did see in the police log occasionally that they'd respond to back up WPD on nearby calls.

MANY colleges are unarmed and in essence are nothing but "security", to give a warm and fuzzy feeling to the students/faculty/staff and call police if something does occur.

Funny story about your "6 mag pouches" . . . yesterday at the end of the Marlboro gun show I spot a 4-mag pouch for a duty belt on a table with G23 hi-cap mags in it. I asked one of the guys at the booth about it and his answer was that the mag pouch was "for a guy who misses a lot"

The mags regrettably went with the G23s that he had for sale and he wasn't desirous of selling the mags separately. So no score yesterday (the prices people asked for G23 mags are much higher than I'm willing to pay).

Campus police may or may not have real police authority:

- They can be sworn in as Special Police by the city/town, Special State Police (there is a provision in MGL), Special Deputy Sheriffs (giving county-wide authority), or they may be nothing more than armed security guards.

- They SHOULD attend a regular police academy.

- In general they have (if sworn) full police powers on the campus and at/near the properties owned/managed by the college, including off-site dorms/frat houses.

- No, unless they are a state college (part of UMass), they can't give out traffic citations or parking tickets that will "stick" for non-college personnel (they can enforce the fines against students/faculty/staff).

HTH

 

[Garys]

- They SHOULD attend a regular police academy.

I know that many do and that the MSP runs a separate academy in New Braintree for campus police. More accurately, a separate class on the academy grounds.

- No, unless they are a state college (part of UMass), they can't give out traffic citations or parking tickets that will "stick" for non-college personnel (they can enforce the fines against students/faculty/staff).

HTH

Depends, I guess. Last time I had a reason to look into it, BUPD was doing traffic stops in the Kenmore Sq area. The BPPA was not happy about it, but apparently it was legal.

Gary

 

[matt1956]

not to stry off topic... but it always amazes me how "librals" (people who are supposed to be all for individual rights) are always willing to give up and take away their WTKABA...

 

[Len-2A Training]

Depends, I guess. Last time I had a reason to look into it, BUPD was doing traffic stops in the Kenmore Sq area. The BPPA was not happy about it, but apparently it was legal.

Gary

I KNOW that their tickets won't "stick" if someone challenges them in court.

I worked for BC PD back in the 1980s. We issued citations/parking tickets and I asked the FT Lt. at BCPD . . . he told me outright that they had clout over students (part of rules of conduct, if all fines not paid, no grades), but anyone else could tell them to pound sand, refuse to pay and BCPD could NOT enforce the fines/citations in a court of law.

Bridgewater State (part of UMass) has town streets going thru campus. They do issue citations and they will stick as their police are "state police" in the sense that they work for the state and there is some specific MGL that gives them said powers due to that status.

 

[pdm]

Can anyone explain to me, in layman's terms, just what exactly a "special police officer" is?

 

[Len-2A Training]

Can anyone explain to me, in layman's terms, just what exactly a "special police officer" is?

Someone appointed as a LEO, but whose powers are restricted by law to certain geographic locations or times/places.

Many LP (loss prevention) folks used to get appointed as Special Police, so they would have real power of arrest . . . but only when working for their employer at the location they had been appointed (e.g. Special PO in Boston for Talbot's wouldn't have said powers if transfered to Hingham store).

 

[icyclefar]

I've asked this before but it still baffles me SO that I need to say it again.

The Jeweish people, OF ALL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, should be as a group the most ardent supporters of affirming the right of individuals to have the means to resist tryranny and oppression. In other words, there should be no group of people on earth more hostile to any notion of disarming the individual.

Why, at least in America, is the opposite true I will never understand. It just simply defies all logic and commons sense.

+1000

 

[Len-2A Training]

I've asked this before but it still baffles me SO that I need to say it again.

The Jeweish people, OF ALL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, should be as a group the most ardent supporters of affirming the right of individuals to have the means to resist tryranny and oppression. In other words, there should be no group of people on earth more hostile to any notion of disarming the individual.

Why, at least in America, is the opposite true I will never understand. It just simply defies all logic and commons sense.

As a Jew, I'm perplexed beyond belief over this too.

However, I do think I figured out the "why" part recently. Reflection on American Jewish political beliefs leads me to conclude that much like those American Jews who lived in the early 1900s to 1950s were indeed Socialists . . . with a firm belief that the gov't is responsible to protect them at all times and they should never lift a finger to protect themselves. They were also in the forefront of forming unions to protect workers rights during that time-frame . . . ergo, always wanted some "collective" to protect their rights rather than the individual doing so.


P.S. It's also why a lot of them today support universal health care, Social (in)Security, Hitlery Clinton, etc.


I obviously don't go along with this philosophy.

 

[Jose]

Len, you have to be right. Socialism and Marxism explain all kinds of f-up things in this country.