RI Colleges, Universities To Submit Campus Policing Reports

State representative William O'Brien said he is looking forward to reviewing reports from Rhode Island's colleges and universities surrounding the issue of arming campus police. The University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and the Community College of Rhode Island are all required to submit the reports to the House of Representatives by Jan. 7.

"Although it is utterly disturbing to acknowledge, active shooter situations are not going away in our society, and most often, targets of these vile crimes are schools. It is because of this that I believe police officers at both RIC and CCRI should be allowed to carry firearms in order to protect students, faculty, staff and the public," Rep. O’Brien said. "I have been encouraged by my discussions with some of the stakeholders and I am eager to see the product of their work to determine if arming our campus police is the appropriate action to take to protect all those who walk on our higher institution’s public campuses."

The reports are required as part of a resolution sponsored by O'Brien, that was passed earlier in the legislative session. They are required to address the following:

• Implementation of less than lethal force options
• Community engagement of issue
• Review and implement best practices to support desired goals and outcomes
• Estimate cost to implement electronic employee performance, early intervention and appraisal software systems
• Approximate a timeline and costs necessary to implement mandatory and recommended training
• Approximate a timeline and costs to review current personnel and job descriptions to align with the desired goals and outcomes of the commission
• Approximate a timeline and costs necessary to update record system and property management system
• Approximate a timeline to update and implement the required policies and procedures.

"Total safety of the campuses is my only concern," O'Brien concluded.

Both RIC and CCRI have previously spoken out against arming campus police.

"We feel very strongly that the community policing model is an effective one," CCRI President Meghan Hughes said at the time. "We have great confidence in the support of our municipal police who are able to arrive to all four of our campuses within minutes."

At this time, URI is the only public higher education institution to have armed campus police. The policy went into effect in 2015.