UI the Daily Iowan

UI The Daily Iowan 09-12-07

Faculty group supports arming the UI police

Clara Hogan - The Daily Iowan Issue date: 9/12/07 Section: Metro

On a close 27-22 vote, the UI Faculty Senate decided Tuesday to support arming the UI police.

The group's vote was given to UI President Sally Mason for consideration only 15 minutes before she was required to make a recommendation to the state Board of Regents. The regents will discuss the issue at their Sept. 18-19 meeting.

Mason said her decision will not be made public until Friday.

The other two Iowa regent university presidents also submitted their recommendations Tuesday.

Iowa State University's Faculty Senate approved the weapons proposal Tuesday on a 38-27 vote, while the University of Northern Iowa's Faculty Senate voted 11-3 against it last week.

At the UI Faculty Senate meeting, Mason took the podium and discussed the campus-safety issue.

"I know this has been a controversial issue across campus and the wider community, and I have gotten a lot of feedback," Mason said. "There are good arguments on both sides - some are intellectual, while others are more emotional - but I hope people understand that I have to make a decision."

Charles Green, the assistant vice president for the UI police, said the department's 32 sworn officers receive the same training as any other in the state but can only currently be armed in "extreme danger."

"I'm asking someone to put themselves between you and harm's way without proper protection," he said. "If we don't give the officers the resources, let's take them out of those situations."

Green said the UI officers have been unarmed since the 1960s. He also noted that the UI, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa are the only schools in their respective conferences to have unarmed university police officers.

Several faculty members voiced their opinions on the split decision. UI history Professor Jeffrey Cox voiced strong opposition to arming the officers.

"It's unique to Iowa, and this 43-year Iowa experiment has been a complete success," he said. "There has been no demand for guns from students, faculty, or staff - it has only been from the police. It has been safe here, so now, no matter what we do, it will be less safe."

Nicole Nisly, a UI clinical professor of internal medicine, compared the issue to sending a doctor into surgery without gloves or a mask.

"We need to consider the people we ask to protect us," she said. "And if we're giving them what they need."

E-mail DI reporter Clara Hogan at: [email protected]