Bill proposes to arm campus safety officers

In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, there is renewed interest in legislation that has been introduced to the Oregon House of Representatives that would arm public safety officers on Oregon University System campuses statewide.

If passed by the state legislature, House Bill 3318 would arm campus police with firearms. It would also train all Oregon University System (OUS) campus security officers up to police standards, involving a more extensive training period, significant pay raises, and upgrades to facilities and equipment.

“Campus officers have probable cause arrest authority and only the eight-hour procedural law class,” said Linda Flores, representative to the House judiciary committee, which oversees the bill. “Essentially it would make campus police real police.”

The bill would use existing campus security officers and equipment, and would cost around $2 million. The bill’s sponsor Mike Silver said OUS already spends about $2 million on its current private contracts with the Oregon State Police and Eugene Police departments.

Jay Kenton, OUS vice chancellor, said the bill would cost significantly more, however, because of operational costs and salary increases. The bill would alter how campus safety officers are classified, putting them nearly on the same level as police officers. Kenton said altering the criteria of the officers and departmental planning would also add to the bill’s cost.

“It would cost $4.5 million a biennia,” Kenton said. “It was expensive, and not only was it expensive in terms of salaries, you have training costs and risk management costs.”

Kenton said the equipment and salary rates were also an issue. Campus safety officers don’t have the equipment needed, Kenton said, and it would be costly to pay competitive wages on par with police officers.

“The bill doesn’t say you have to pay them market, but you gotta pay competitive wages,” he said.

Proponents of the bill think the extra costs are worth it. Increased training would allow campus safety officers to better respond to potentially violent situations, according to Flores, something that is becoming a more common occurrence on campuses.

“Now more than ever our officers are interacting and coming in contact with violent offenders,” she said.

Currently, OUS has private contracts with Oregon State Police and the Eugene Police Department, which serve Oregon State University and the University of Oregon.

But with only two colleges out of the seven public universities in OUS having worked out contracts with local police, Silver said, OUS needs more protection.

“If we have a violent on-campus incident, we don’t have the training or the tools of being able to complete our jobs,” said Silver, who is also a public safety officer at Western Oregon University.

The bill would provide for a minimum of six officers on a campus, with one certified police officer on call at all times. Currently, a handful of public safety officers run the shifts on campuses, Silver said.

In the event of an active shooter on a small campus, the current system would force unarmed campus security to secure a perimeter and call for backup from local law enforcement. This results in significant time delays, Silver said.

“By the time all responding officers get organized and develop a perimeter, it’s been around 20 minutes. Waiting for a SWAT team, the time is 30 minutes, at best,” he said. “What happens with the shooter in the hour spent waiting?”

Most local law enforcement units around OUS colleges are also too small to deal with a call-in from campus security adequately, Silver said.

Kenton said that the biggest issue he has with the bill is that it does not adequately address the quality of the officers.

“The way it’s written, it requires to make the people we have police officers,” Kenton said. “To become a police officer you go through psychological testing and other screening. I’m sure the current people are the ones we would pick.”

It’s an important process, said Kenton, and one that should be looked at very carefully.

“Running a police department is a very, very different activity than running a public safety department,” Kenton said. “I would rather leave that to professionals.”

HB 3318 has been heard three times this legislative session, after several delays including one from Oregon Governor Ted Kulongsoki, out of respect for the Virginia Tech incident.

After preliminary approval from the judiciary committee last week, the bill now moves to the House Ways and Means Committee.