Simmons announced her decision to approve the arming of licensed officers in an e-mail to the Brown community sent Wednesday afternoon. In the e-mail, she wrote that arming will only extend to "campus police officers, who are police academy graduates, licensed by the Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, and are authorized to enforce state statutes as well as university rules and regulations." Other public safety officers - including security officers "who are authorized only to enforce university rules and regulations" - will not carry firearms, Simmons wrote.
"The reason for arming is that it just expands the number of services" that campus police officers can provide, said Director of University Communications Mark Nickel in an interview with The Herald. Prior to arming, these officers were unable to intervene in potentially dangerous situations because of their disengagement policy, he said.
"Officers are trained to respond to people who need to be helped, and a policy of disengagement is counter to that," Nickel said.
In Wednesday's e-mail, Simmons noted the limits previously encountered by campus police officers "when faced with a violent crime or weapon." She described the disengagement policy as "untenable insofar as assuring the safety of our community."
Now that licensed officers can carry firearms, they can do more to ensure the safety of the community, such as pursue and apprehend suspects in situations that would have previously mandated disengagement, Porter said.
The Department of Public Safety police force consists of 33 officers, Porter said, adding that between three and five officers work during each shift. Campus police officers will continue to work hand-in-hand with the Providence Police Department, which will maintain a police detail in areas near Brown's campus, Porter said.
David Greene, vice president for campus life and student services and a member of the committee overseeing the arming process, said that as a student he did not notice any major differences between campuses with armed police forces and those with unarmed police forces. He added that he believes the decision to arm will ultimately make the campus safer for students.
In the fall of 2001, the University commissioned William Bratton, former chief of police for New York City, to study campus safety. Bratton and his consultants compiled a report recommending the arming of licensed campus police officers along with other safety measures that have since been implemented.
The University's steps to arm officers lasted over two years. The Herald reported in December 2003 that Simmons had decided to initiate the arming process. "The decision to proceed to issuing firearms will not be made until we are fully satisfied that the Department is ready," she wrote at that time. In yesterday's e-mail, Simmons wrote that "the preparation process was complete," including the implementation of "all effective safeguards, policies, procedures, training and supervision."
