By Joanna Putman
Police1
BALTIMORE — Morgan State University police officers have lodged complaints with school leadership following an on-campus shooting this month, WBAL reported.
The 11-page letter follows an Oct. 3 on-campus active shooter situation where four students and one other person were injured. One suspect, an unnamed 17-year-old, has been apprehended, according to the report. A second suspect, Jovan Williams, 18, is still at large.
Members of the Morgan State University Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 142 called for change in the letter, expressing their lack of confidence in Morgan State Police Chief Lance Hatcher, as well as a plea for more officers and equipment.
“Despite our previous efforts to resolve these issues by working with Chief Hatcher, his command staff and human resources, our concerns have fallen on deaf ears … We implore you to conduct a thorough review of Chief Lance Hatcher’s policies and decisions,” the letter, attained by WBAL, states.
The letter alleges that Hatcher overreported staffing levels by including unarmed security officers in the “sworn officer” count, clarifying there are only about half the number of sworn officers he claimed.
The FOP also says that the lack of vehicles added to the difficulty of handling the active shooter incident, according to the report. Officers reportedly “squeeze” into cruisers to respond to campus incidents.
“Only four active vehicles (are) available for patrol officers, two of these vehicles are in constant need of maintenance,” the letter says.
University officers cannot use their radios to contact the Baltimore Police Department or any other local agencies, further slowing down response times. The department called for a thorough re-evaluation of policies and sweeping changes in campus safety response, according to the report.