Rhode Island Rep Urges Arming CCRI, RIC Campus Police After Pawtucket Shooting

PROVIDENCE, RI – State Rep. William W. O’Brien is once again urging the presidents of the Community College of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College to arm their campus police officers following Monday's deadly gun attack at a Pawtucket ice rink.

“The presidents of CCRI and RIC are playing a perilous game and time is running out for them to do the right thing before tragedy strikes our college campuses," O'Brien, D-North Providence, said in a media release.

Related: State Rep. O’Brien Files Bill To Arm Public College Police Officers

"We need to give our students and staff a sense of security in these chaotic and dangerous times, and both administrations are failing this horribly," O'Brien said.

"There is no police chief or police union where these campuses are located that supports the decisions of the college presidents that refuse to properly protect everyone who steps foot on campus," he said. "We need true leadership at CCRI and RIC who take campus safety seriously and not bow down to unrealistic and foolhardy political pressure. Lives are at stake here and the clock is ticking.”

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O’Brien reintroduced legislation to arm public college police officers. He referenced the Dec. 13 mass shooting at Brown University when he filed the bill.

“The unthinkable has come to Rhode Island now twice in two months and these horrific incidents at Brown and in Pawtucket should serve as a wake-up call to our public colleges who refuse to arm their campus police officers," O'Brien said.

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