Students had different opinions on the administration's decision to allow public safety officers access to guns in specific emergencies.
PRINCETON - University students had very different reactions Wednesday after learning about the administration's decision earlier this week to allow unarmed public safety officers to have access to rifles in cases of an active shooter or armed suspect on campus.
Public safety officers at the university have historically been unarmed in all situations including the event of an armed shooter on campus. Protocol dictates that officers from the town's police department would be called in handle any kind of dangerous situation.
But the policy will change soon when the 32 sworn officers - all of whom received police training and were certified to carry firearms before taking the university position- are given access to rifles in specific emergency cases, Princeton spokesman Martin Mbugua said.
Those cases are limited to an armed suspect or an active shooter on campus.
The sworn officers will need to undergo additional training and complete certification specific to the rifles they will use before the policy change goes into effect.
The change was announced at a community meeting Monday night, Mbugua said.
MORE: Decision to arm Princeton Univ. officers in gun emergencies evolved over months
Some students support what could be an increase in security while others wondered Wednesday if giving the officers access to firearms could bring unnecessary problems to campus.
"I am very privileged to be at a university where faculty and staff want students to be safe," sophomore Carolyn Beard said. "In a perfect world no one would have guns but I'm not apathetic toward it."
Ella Cheng, President of the Undergraduate Student Government, commonly called the USG, said that the group is in support of any effort that public safety makes to ensure a safer campus.
However, she said that talk on various social media sites in the days since the announcement has led her to believe students have mixed feelings about the decision.
"I think that's the cops' job," fifth year graduate student Justin Weidner said. He said that he believes the university should be working with the town's police department to ensure a faster response time in cases of emergency rather than allowing public safety access to firearms.
Other students had concerns about how the decision could impact individual students.
"I don't think it's appropriate," first year graduate student Margarita Rosario said, adding that, "A lot of...police action is used against black bodies."
Cheng said that the differing opinions has prompted the USG to reach out to public safety, asking members to attend the group's meeting Sunday to answer questions students may have about the decision.
Students' responses demonstrate a change on campus from five years ago when students actively lobbied against arming their security officers after the Fraternal Order of Police urged the university to allow a few officers access to firearms.
Students won out in that discussion and the officers remained unarmed. The debate continued in 2013.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.
