In the wake of the horrific tragedy that took place at Umpqua community college. It is time to arm Lane County community college’s public safety officers. In a school where we are encouraged to call public safety before 911 due to a faster response time, leaving DPS as a first line of defense, It is unfathomable to me that LCC Board of education would not equip them. LCC DPS can be at any location on campus in less than two minutes. In the event of an active shooter on campus it would take at least eight minutes for the first armed officer of another agency to reach campus. That eight minutes doesn't include the time it takes to asses the situation, get doors unlocked and actually getting to the building where the incident occurred.
LCC will let a student conceal carry a firearm on campus. However, for faculty, public safety or any other worker on campus carrying a firearm on campus is prohibited. It is time that the Board stops endangering officers and students by having officers perform their duties unarmed when there is a very real possibility that they encounter someone that is armed.
I had the pleasure of sitting down with LCC DPS Chief Jace Smith. The Chief had provided a lot of great information, including pointing me in the direction of a series of articles he wrote from June to December 2014 titled “Challenging Conversations- LCC Public Safety Series.” In Chief Smith’s December, 2014 article he said “Regardless, of the current threat environment in the United States, with regard to the prevalence of violent actors, affording individuals, engaged in work activities at least as much privilege as the students they serve, seems a most reasonable approach to fairness, common sense, and parity.” The chief had also said in a June article “Yes, the job is dangerous. Yes, that danger is compounded by the ignorance of others. Yes, that danger is real. Yes, there are tactics and activities that occasionally make people feel uncomfortable, but are absolutely necessary. No, we don’t have the tools we need. Yes, one or more of us will be seriously hurt or killed in the future.”
With the recent tragedies there is no question that the threat of an attack is very real. The Chief of public safety had written his opinion in a series of articles over a year ago, that clearly show the need for armed officers. It is time we stop talking about the issue and take action for the safety of DPS officers and the safety of everyone on campus. So I ask that you start taking action by signing this petition. If you wish to read Chief Smith's articles their links are below.
Links to Chief Jace Smith’s articles.
https://www.lanecc.edu/sites/default/files/psd/safercampusmay-june2014r.pdf
https://www.lanecc.edu/sites/default/files/psd/safercampus_june2014.pdf
https://www.lanecc.edu/sites/default/files/psd/safercampusaugust2014_1.pdf
https://www.lanecc.edu/sites/default/files/psd/safercampusoct2014.pdf
https://www.lanecc.edu/sites/default/files/psd/safercampusdec2014.pdf
