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September 28, 2004
Legend's View:
Pepper spray vs. firearms for campus safety
A proposal sent to the District Safety Committee stated that the Certified College Safety Officers on campus requested the right to carry guns on campus and use them if necessary. The proposal has raised many questions as to why, specifically, officers need to carry lethal weapons in such a safe community where violence is not tolerated, or even seen. Some do believe that the guns will bring a new, positive presence to MCC that has not been seen before, and will better the quality of the school. The Director of College Safety, Steve Corich, stated, "We’re not going to have a S.W.A.T team, we’re not going to have a tank. We want to be able to respond to the most serious incidents on campus."
Corich stated the top three reasons why he wants guns to be on-hand for the officers on campus: he wants them to be able to protect themselves, he believes that the officers who will be carrying the guns are highly trained officers who should have the privilege of carrying a gun, and the fact that violent crime can occur anywhere at anytime. "Crime doesn't end on the sidewalks surrounding our school," Corich said.
All these statements may be true to an extent, but the evidence behind these shallow arguments proves otherwise. Corich wants officers to be able to protect themselves in a serious incident in which innocent lives are at stake. That seems reasonable. But when has there been a serious incident in which innocent lives were at stake? Most of the crimes that are committed on campus include robbery, auto theft and trespassing. None of these incidents have ever been life threatening, to any student or officer in over two decades.
It was suggested, due to each officer's number of years spent in service, and level of education they have achieved (which on average is a bachelors degree), that we should automatically hand over a gun based on the assumption that officers have “earned” this privilege.
Many students who attend universities have already obtained a bachelors degree, and there is no way anyone would trust some of these people with a lethal weapon.
There may be certified police officers on duty now that have only been with the force for two years, but those officers are probably better qualified to handle a gun due to their ongoing training. How often will these Certified College Safety officers practice shooting? How do we know that in the event of a real emergency these officers won’t accidentally shoot the victim instead of the criminal because of poor aim?
Last, we all know that crime can happen anywhere. This campus is just as vulnerable to attack as any other gun-carrying or non gun-carrying school. However, Corich did state, "We (officers) have never had to use pepper spray on campus." It is a little hard to understand why, based on the previous statement, our security officers should jump from carrying non-lethal weapons that have never been used before on campus, to a deadly weapon that can kill with a slight tug of the finger. If there has never been an incident which required the use of pepper spray, maybe we should let the officers get used to the pepper spray first before we go ahead and put a gun in their hand. Maybe we can compromise and go to tasers instead.
We all know that the College Safety Department has the best of intentions toward the students and staff on this campus. Their job is to keep us all out of harm's way and they need to have equipment to do it. But this campus isn't ready for lethal firearms just yet.
Yes, it is better to be safe rather that sorry, but is MCC ready for the possibility of a wrongful death on campus that may occur? If any crime is possible at any time, then anything can go wrong with guns on campus at anytime. What happens if a gun is accidentally dropped into the wrong hands? There are many possibilities and many “what if's.”
This is why MCC is not ready for this leap, just yet. Maybe in a few years the idea may be feasible, until then, keep practicing with that pepper spray.
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