By Jennifer Huberdeau
The Berkshire Eagle
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Arming campus police officers at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts won’t happen before students arrive in September, but the discussion leading up to any decision will continue over the next several months.
Public Safety Director Joseph Charon, who initiated conversations at the college, told a sparse crowd of about 11 community members Wednesday night that he’s been charged by the college’s Board of Trustees to research and develop an implementation and cost-analysis plan to present to them in September.
“I want to make it clear that this was not precipitated by any event on campus, but by the belief that our officers face a disparity every day they are on patrol,” he said. “They do not have all of the tools and equipment they should have, especially if faced with a lethal encounter.”
Six out of the college’s eight officers have the ability to carry a firearm and do so for another law enforcement job, Charon said. Currently, campus police are armed with batons, pepper spray and handcuffs.
He also noted that five of the state’s nine state universities have armed campus police officers, the exceptions being MCLA, Framingham State, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and Massachusetts College of Art. Framingham also is in the process of deciding whether or not to arm their campus police.
“An increase in serious and violent attacks across the country has changed the way business, colleges and the government have come to look a safety and security,” he said. “It’s caused us to look at how we do things here. We believe that the best thing for us is preparation and prevention. A lack of firearms is a lack of preparation.”
Public Safety Commissioner E. John Morocco said his department would welcome the addition of armed campus police at the college.
“Back in the late 1990s, our force worked alongside the campus police in community policing efforts,” he said. “The campus police were exposed because they did not have firearms and because of that, our officers were also exposed. As far as were concerned, it’s not the students on campus were concerned about, it’s the people from outside the campus that would more likely than not pose a problem.”
Morocco pointed to two armed invasions on the campus as a prime example for the need to arm campus officers.
Former City Councilor Denise Parsons questioned the minute difference in response time from campus police and the city’s police department.
Morocco said that while the city’s police station is located near the college, a situation can become lethal in seconds.
Lisa and Thomas Richard, of Church Street, said they can understand the need for the arming of campus officers.
“I’d actually feel safer,” Lisa Richard said. “I walk the neighborhood a lot at night.”
Charon said if the decision is made to arm campus officers, all of his staff would be required to have firearms training, along with training on the use of force and safety, regardless of whether they are employed by another law enforcement agency.
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