GWU Sticks to Its Guns to Arm Its Police

WASHINGTON - Sept. 8, 2023 - PRLog -- The George Washington University [GWU] refused to commit to abandon, or even delay, its already-ongoing plans to arm some of its police officers - to help deter crazed gunmen from coming onto campus, and to more quickly neutralize any which might appear - despite complaints voiced at a meeting of its Faculty Senate this afternoon about the plan itself and the alleged lack of consultation, reports public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

Close to a dozen members of the Faculty Senate spoke, objecting both to the decision to arm some of its police ("where's the evidence it makes us any safer," they asked), and to the fact that this august body wasn't consulted, much less made a part of the deliberative process.

However they were told in no uncertain terms that issues of public safety on campus is a matter for the Trustees to decide without any faculty consultation.  This is a wise decision, says Banzhaf, because at GWU and at many other campuses, there was widespread uninformed objections to arming police which had to be overcome.

A faculty which had proposed dealing with crazed campus shooters by using "deep empathy," "nonviolent communication," "de-escalation" through "active bystander intervention skills," and "nonviolent self-defense training" as better methods for dealing with a crazed gunman on campus than armed police may not offer any useful advice, even if consulted.

Fortunately, GWU students opposing the decision to arm some police [only 2 so far] were not permitted to speak at the meeting.  Previously many had claimed that it would put at risk of "certainly" being brutalized virtually everyone in the greater D.C. area except for rich White people living in the suburbs.

If GWU's faculty members wish to be consulted about safety measures for their campus, they should not be making suggestions to protect against crazed shooters by using new-age concepts such as deep empathy, dignity illumination and enhancement, intervention skills, nonviolent communication, etc., and not guns as most universities and other institutions do, nor ignore many other very simple, practical, and non-controversial suggestions from the study (https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=202210...) aimed at providing more protection for students and faculty, argues Banzhaf.

http://banzhaf.net/   jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com   @profbanzhaf