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December 7, 2004
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Mesa Legend Illustration |
Security review in order
Guns on campus just part of overall plan
Zahid Arab and Desiree McDonald
Mesa Legend
As December approaches, the semester comes to a close. But issues brought up this semester, such as arming the Certified Safety Officers, will affect all students returning to MCC next semester.
Governing Board member Scott Crowley, the newest addition to the board, cites his personal experiences as a fresh insight to this widely debated issue. “I offer a different point of view,” he said, “because of my job, I am exposed to different things the rest of the board aren’t.”
With his experience as a city of Phoenix firefighter, Crowley said he understands the safety concerns raised by others.
With his personal accounts of dealing with drug overdoses, domestic violence, and other potential risk factors, Crowley believes increasing the number of security personnel to student ratio should be a priority. “I would support a comprehensive plan that would decrease the gap between the number of students and security officers on campus,” he said.
While supporting the arming of Arizona Post Certified officers, Crowley believes other factors also must be looked at.
The addition of positions, such as an executive director of safety which would report to the chancellor is one of them, said Crowley.
Although all three members of the Governing Board who voted against this measure in the past happened to be male, Crowley said that accountability was a main concern for some, including Governing Board member Ed Contreras. “The gender factor was not the basis of his decision, the effects of September 11th have left everyone seeking more safety,” he said. “Anyone could feel unsafe, it’s not gender specific.”
So, how do people really feel about this issue?
A survey handed out to 50 students showed that 86 percent of them currently feel safe at school. Conversely, however, 60 percent of students responded that they were in favor of arming the Certified Safety Officers.
Out of that number, nine of those in favor were women, nine were male, and the others were anonymous.
President of MCC Faculty Senate, Janice Reilly, feels that sex does play into feelings on the issue.
She recalled a College Safety Presentation given a few years ago where the issue of arming the Officers was brought up.
All the female board members voted for arming the Officers, whereas all the male board members voted against it.
Whether or not the Certified Safety Officers do become armed, their roles need to be clearly defined. Reilly felt that the role of those officers is currently vague. “If they do become armed, it’s not everybody,” she observed. “If we expect certain things, they have to have the tools,” Reilly stated.
She continued the thought by generalizing that if the officers do not become armed, then nobody can expect them to act as if they are.
Janice concluded by saying, “We might be putting them in harms way.”
Janice Reilly was uniformed about the faculty’s opinion on the subject. There was a faculty poll given, and she noted that they really didn’t respond.
She was informed, however, that the faculty at Glendale is in favor of arming the Campus Safety Officers.
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