By Andra Bryan Stefanoni
news@joplinglobe.com
PITTSBURG, Kan. — The Student Government Association at Pittsburg State University approved a resolution Wednesday supporting the carrying of Tasers by university police, but it’s not a tool the department will be using anytime soon.
“It has been great that the students have taken it upon themselves to bring it up and discuss it; they had a real good discussion on both sides,” Mike McCracken, director of PSU police, said Thursday. “It’s something that is a valuable tool for any police officer to have available to them, but as far as implementing something like that here ... we’d need to look into policy, training. And the way the budget is right now, funding is another issue.”
Nathan Woodward, a cabinet member with the student group, said the matter arose when students accompanied university police officers on the annual “Light Walk” around campus.
“It’s a chance for us to note burned-out light bulbs, areas where we need more light bulbs to increase security, and we got to talking with police officers about means they can use to subdue people,” he said. “That started the discussion, and it was something we discussed for most of last semester: What do our police have available to protect students here on campus and to protect themselves?”
What Woodward and others learned is that campus police have two means of protection or force: batons and 9 mm pistols.
“From that we debated and invited all sorts of people to talk with us,” Woodward said, noting that McCracken presented himself as neutral on the issue.
At Wednesday’s meeting, a larger-than-usual crowd of students debated the issue for two hours. The association approved the resolution on a 12-6 vote.
“The whole thing is more preventative than anything,” Woodward said. “We had several students say, ‘Isn’t PSU one of the safest campuses in Kansas?’ But we likened it back to the Virginia Tech thing. We were wanting our police to be able to have all the latest things at their disposal to safely carry out their job.”
Ken Kennedy, chief of the campus police at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, said he thinks Tasers have a place on a university campus because they allow officers to defuse a violent or threatening situation in a way that is less lethal than a firearm.
“I personally think Tasers are a very good tool. They reduce injuries to suspects as well as officers,” he said, adding that his department has not yet acquired Tasers but may do so in the future.
“We have a really low crime rate and very cooperative students for the most part,” Kennedy said. “We might use them very seldom, but when you do have that one time, if you had that capability — for example, if someone were to have a knife — then instead of taking their life, you can resolve it. We would use it only in situations where we probably would have to use lethal force. It’s way better for everyone.”
Police views
“We brought in police from other departments who do carry them (Tasers) — which around here Fort Scott is the closest — and asked them the benefits, the problems, why they think they help. They brought all sorts of visual aids and talked about the training involved.”
— Nathan Woodward, cabinet member of the PSU Student Government Association
