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Thursday, January 22, 2015

Criminal Justice Quote: University Decides Not to Arm College Cops With Assault Rifles

     Administrators at Idaho State University, on January 11, 2015, canceled an order for eleven AR-15 rifles for its campus security detail. The school ordered the weapons in August 2014 to have them on hand in case of a campus shooting. "On second consideration," said the school's vice president, "we determined it was in everybody's best interest if we let the local SWAT team deal with that sort of issue, and that our officers on campus would deal with containing the situation."

     The gun cancellation followed concerns among local law enforcement agencies that the school's campus public safety officers had overstepped their authority on several occasions…In September 2014, city officials in Pocatello said campus security officers delayed calling the police after an assistant chemistry professor shot himself in the foot during a lecture when a gun in his pocket went off. By the time city police arrived, the scene had been cleaned up.

     In late December 2014, the director of the Idaho State Police rescinded permission for university security vehicles to use red emergency lights after campus officers used the lights to stop motorists on and near the campus and issue traffic citations. The authorized use of the red lights were only to alert motorists, not to stop them…

     On other occasions, campus security administered an alcohol breath test on a driver before calling police and seized marijuana from a dorm room without notifying the authorites for days. Unlike some other large universities that have their own police departments, safety officers at ISU don't have broad authority. Campus officers can make citizen arrests and detain suspects for police questioning….

"Idaho State University Cancels Order for AR-15 Rifles," Associated Press, January 12, 2015 

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