Student government has further emphasized its stance against the use of Tasers on campus with the introduction of two resolutions in the last month, one from the Public Safety Advisory Group and the other from the ASUO Senate.
Both resolutions also stated an opposition to the restructuring of the Department of Public Safety, as University administration proposed in a recent memorandum it sent to the state Board of Higher Education.
Student government groups have been fighting against DPS bringing Tasers on campus ever since Director Kevin Williams stated last term that Tasers would be on campus, with or without his support.
“Tasers have been on campus for months, but NOT in the hands of DPS,” Williams said in an e-mail, referring to the small handful of officers from the Eugene Police Department who patrol on campus and have been trained to use the weapons.
Though neither DPS nor University administration has control over EPD’s Taser use on campus, students have spoken out about the issue.
PSAG member and ASUO President Emily McLain said the group drafted its resolution in March to contribute student voice to the issue.
“We believe Tasers are potentially lethal,” McLain said. “A lot of research has shown that Tasers have been a contributing factor to over 200 deaths.”
Williams said he “found it interesting PSAG suggests we attempt to assert authority over a police agency and their possession of Tasers. We have no such authority over a police agency.”
PSAG’s resolution also recommended that the structure of DPS remain the same, a direct response to the white paper drafted by Assistant General Counsel Doug Park and Vice President of Finance and Administration Frances Dyke. The white paper proposed that each university in the Oregon University System choose one of four public safety models according to its size and enforcement needs. Options included an independent university police department model, a non-sworn public safety model, a university police department deputization model and a bifurcated department of public safety model, which the University currently has.
“We were asked to comment on the white paper by Doug Park, who came to PSAG as requested by DPS,” said Jim Cleavenger, PSAG’s ASUO graduate student representative. “He said, ‘Take a look at this and pick one.’ We said, ‘Whoa whoa whoa, this is moving a little quickly; we’re not comfortable with choosing one of these immediately.”
Cleavenger said PSAG spent the next month “hashing out” its resolution, which passed unanimously and stated that it opposed any changes to the structure of DPS – especially, McLain said, if those changes involved allowing officers to carry guns or Tasers.
“In the last term, there were only two incidences of use of mace or a baton,” McLain said. “That kind of begs the question, are we coming up with problems?”
University administration has said no, it is not. A handful of administrators, including Park and Vice President of Student Affairs Robin Holmes, have said they are not considering bringing Tasers to campus via DPS, nor will they consider it in the near future.
Park said he has “not received a direct response from the Board on the campus security memorandum that we drafted,” but on March 7, “the Board voted not to include a legislative concept at this time.”
The Board said it is awaiting a campus safety report from the Governor’s Task Force on Public Safety before it considers a new public safety model. Gov. Ted Kulongoski issued an executive order earlier this year to create the task force. The issue of campus safety has gained national attention in the wake of recent shootings at schools such as Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University.
“Both of those universities had their own police departments with guns and with Tasers, and that didn’t prevent anything,” Cleavenger said.
On Thursday, exactly one month after PSAG presented its resolution, the ASUO Senate presented its own, very similar resolution stating its opposition to Tasers on campus and to any changes to the structure of campus public safety.
Williams said the Senate and PSAG has nothing to be concerned about.
“It is my belief the whole debacle regarding Tasers started because I stated I had no control over Tasers being introduced to the campus and in fact Tasers would be on campus (via EPD),” Williams said. “I think that was intentionally misconstrued by some so they could inaccurately report DPS would soon have Tasers.”
Williams said there will be only one major change with respect to DPS in the near future: It will move to a new location.
University President Dave Frohnmayer announced DPS will soon be moved to the former Oregon Department of Transportation property at the corner of Franklin Boulevard and Walnut Street.
“I am very appreciative of the University’s decision to move DPS to a better location,” Williams said. DPS currently resides between Earl and Straub Halls.
Frohnmayer has not set a specific date for the move.
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