Written by Megan Ruge, Managing Editor of Content and News
Susquehanna announced that a limited number of Public Safety officers have been authorized to carry firearms on campus, effective immediately following the close of the fall 2018 semester.
According to Susan Lantz, vice president for Student Life, the university was able to make this decision in accordance with the Pennsylvania Lethal Weapons Training Act (Act 235). The act allows for the officers to be certified to carry these weapons and receive the proper training. The training will be required on an ongoing, continuous basis.
According to Angelo Martin, director of Public Safety, officers chosen to be armed will have concealed carry licenses. This allows the officers to carry their weapons concealed while in plain clothes or suits. While in uniform, officers will be required to carry in a security holster.
Martin said that he noticed a rise in gun violence in previously uncommon places such as educational institutions.
According to Lantz, in the last 18 months, instances in which a gun has been reportedly brought on campus by an outsider sparked the conversation on armed officers. Martin said most concerns were not with students.
“We started talking about it early this semester,” Lantz said. “This summer, Angelo and I started talking about campus safety and we discussed his concerns for different aspects of campus, made a plan to address those. One included blue lights, one included cameras and we had some other issues and another one of those issues included the potential of arming a few Public Safety officers.”
According to Lantz, the next step was to start the research process. They looked at comparable schools and in their research found that the majority of comparable colleges had armed officers on campus.
“After we made the decision earlier this semester, we started a series of conversations with key constituents on campus,” Lantz said. “[We talked] with the university council, which has one student as a member [and] the board of trustees which has two students as members. We talked with other key faculty on campus and we also talked to the [Student Government Association (SGA)] executive board on Sunday.”
Before sending an announcement email on Dec. 3, Lantz, Martin and President Jonathan D. Green made the official announcement at both a faculty meeting and the SGA meeting.
Martin said that concerns regarding the safety of the campus are the main concerns. He remarked that there are gaps in security that he is aware of.
“You just continue to work at it,” Martin said.
The Department of Public Safety is working to close these security gaps through many different updates such as the adoption and training of students, faculty and staff on the “Run, Hide, Fight” emergency response strategy, increased staffing in the Department of Public Safety and procurement of mass casualty kits and automated external defibrillators.
According to Lantz, the officers who are being armed have 54 combined years of police experience from state police.
Martin also spoke about the department’s ability to set their own training standards that differ from that of the state or local police.
“Some of this training is related to the rich and diverse community that lives and works on our campus,” Martin said. “Thus, it is logical to train on such things as implicit bias and cultural competency, among many other initiatives, that state and local police may or may not require, or [may not] require with frequency.”
Though the chosen officers will be allowed to carry firearms, all other duties remain the same. Public Safety will not be allowed to make arrests. If a situation arises in which arrests need to be made, state or local authorities will be called.
Firearms will only be used when there is a threat of bodily injury or death to a member of campus or an officer, which Martin said is an exceptionally rare situation.
Lantz said that the administration plans to hold a forum next semester but have not decided on a date. In the meantime, both Lantz and Martin welcome students to reach out and speak with them with any questions or concerns.