Council discusses police weapons

Professors and staff members spoke out against a University Police proposal to arm officers with semiautomatic weapons at Wednesday's University Council meeting. Earlier this month, Public Safety Managing Director Thomas Seamon said he is seriously considering such a move. "It's something that might have been controversial 10 years ago, but it's now the standard throughout the country," Seamon said at the time. But on Wednesday, Microbiology Professor Helen Davies said she believes arming campus police officers with semiautomatics is problematic. "Semiautomatic weapons will only raise the stakes," she said. Davies also said that when making a policy change of this sort, it is imperative to consult the University's experts on criminology and youth violence, and not blindly accept the assertions of University Police. Davies asked Council to consider the experiences of other college police forces -- such as those at Harvard and Yale universities -- with these weapons, as well as the reaction of the West Philadelphia community. Library Services employee James Gray, who is also Tri-Chair of the African-American Association for Faculty, Staff and Administrators, said that more firepower will not deter crime or criminals. "You can't repress crime. You have to deal with the causes of crime," Gray said. He added that arming University Police with semiautomatic weapons would create a wider rift between the West Philadelphia community and the University. Victim Support and Special Services Director Maureen Rush said that she supports arming campus police with semiautomatic weapons. "It's imperative that [the police] be given adequate tools to do their job," she said. Noting that police academies now train cadets with semiautomatic weapons, Rush said that "revolvers are becoming obsolete." Wharton junior and Penn Watch President Jon Brightbill said Gray and Davies are speaking from a "sterile and academic environment." "They are not dealing with the reality of the situation," he said Every other police force in Philadelphia -- including SEPTA, Drexel University and the Philadelphia Housing Authority -- uses semiautomatic weapons, he said. Despite the fact that University Police officers have not fired a single round of ammunition since 1990, Brightbill said that it is necessary to increase police firepower. There have been three crimes with semiautomatic weapons in the past week in University City, including one incident involving a student, Brightbill said, leading him to conclude that West Philadelphia is a dangerous environment. College sophomore and Undergraduate Assembly member Meredith Hertz said that she would rather see University funds spent on increasing campus security overall, rather than on stronger firearms for University Police. But College senior and UA Chairperson Lance Rogers said that many police officers favor upgrading to semiautomatic weapons. It is not the University community's job to second-guess the police, he said.