Oregonian
December 11th, 2014
Over the strong objections of many students and three-fourths of the tenure-track faculty, Portland State University's new board of trustees voted Thursday to create an armed campus police force.
But the university can't deploy a single armed officer unless the board votes yes again in June.
Before that, a committee including students, faculty and staff must write a plan setting forth special training requirements, use of force policies and other conditions for the new police force that match the expectations of people at Portland State.
Much of the rationale for the decision to move toward armed campus police was the desire of many Portland State administrators who oversee student health and safety to have campus-based officers steeped in PSU culture, not officers from the Portland Police Bureau, respond to the biggest safety threats on campus.
Portland police officers do not understand campus culture and have shown slow or insensitive responses to PSU emergencies, Michelle Toppe, dean of student life, and others said.