Dive Summary:
- As part of the state's effort to improve campus security following the Newtown massacre, Connecticut's legislator heard testimony from college officials Thursday who said campus police in the state should be armed.
- Gena Glickman, president of Manchester Community College, which had a lockdown scare Wednesday, told legislators that campus police can be more helpful during an emergency when they are armed, and similar support came from campus police chiefs at the University of Connecticut (UConn) and Central Connecticut State University.
- Only campus police at UConn and the state's four regional universities, as well as two of its 12 community colleges, are currently armed, and at least one member of the state legislature said she would support arming all campus police officers if they received the necessary training.
From the article:
... Glickman said that during the lockdown Wednesday, the college police were essentially treated like civilians. " They basically can't cross police lines. They can't go and assist," she said, although they are most familiar with the MCC campus lay- out and the community.
"They had to hand over their keys. They had to stand back," said Glickman, who also has asked the state Board of Regents for Higher Education to allow guns to campus guards. ...