While the reaccreditation process is not related to the study the University will soon conduct on aspects of safety and security at the University and whether to arm the police force, the editorial addressed the criticism of a couple of our "prominent community members accusing officers of being too 'unprofessional' to carry guns." As GW and Foggy Bottom community members reflect on this issue, I want to share some important facts about UPD, its employees and what we do for this campus.Point taken, but it's worth remembering that the (best) argument against arming UPD--the statements of some writers for The Patriot aside--has nothing to do with allegations of incompetence within UPD. Repeat after me, children: we oughtn't arm UPD because it is unnecessary to do so, not because UPD officers are incompetent.
UPD conducts a citizen survey every three years to gather feedback. The most recent survey was conducted in the spring of 2008 and realized a 33 percent response rate. Ninety-two percent of the respondents rated the overall performance of the department as "excellent" or "good," and 81 percent rated the officers professionalism as "excellent" or "good."
To be fair, most opponents of arming UPD do seem to think that UPD's officers are Keystone Kops. That's why op-eds like Stafford's are necessary. We need to differentiate, though, between popular arguments and sensible arguments. Advocates of arming UPD have shown that UPD is not incompetent. They have yet to provide any reason to think that UPD's work requires guns. What pressing problem will arming UPD solve? What pressing threats (not including fevered invocations of incredibly rare events like the Virgina Tech shooting) would it relieve? Would the benefits gained be enough to counterbalance the risks involved? Answer these questions, and you'll be on your way to crafting a serious, defensible case for arming UPD. Don't, and as long as you continue to talk about arming UPD, you'll be sparring with midgets.*
(*I don't mean to imply that the writers of The Colonialist are midgets, or that there's anything wrong with being a midget. It's just that their argument against arming UPD is piss-poor.)
5 comments:
who gives a crap about this issue anymore. Im sick of reading about it. talk about how the SA sucks. at least that will be interesting
I think this argument is right on target.
It's simple. Compile the numbers on kids killed during school shootings and the number killed from trained university police accidentally hurting someone with a gun. I think you'll find that, as rare as the school shooting may be. Lives saved would be well worth it.
Bill
You keep attributing Travis' positions to The Colonialist proper.
I don't agree with Travis' argument & I don't think mine was any different from yours. Sure, I didn't present an argument in the post itself -- instead, I posted a photo -- but the comment I closed the comment chain with made my intent clear.
The Colonialist has four writers: we do not present a unified front and make no attempts to. Occasionally, we all agree on something. Most of the time, not so.
-Kirk
Said it before and say it again:
I'm perfectly fine if UPD has guns if I get one too.
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