The Sault Arms Race
Kenneth Casperson

The safety of its students is a major concern for any college, and Lake State is, of course, no exception. In this spirit, Public Safety has slowly been stepping up both its efforts and its scope over the past few years, to become what Director Bill Whitman calls A real modern college safety force. The latest advancement, however, in the departments stepping up has caused rather more controversy than the others. This is, of course, the plan to commission  and arm  full officers to be added to the LSSU Public Safety force. Criminology professor Gerald Dobbertin, however, does not share Whitmans sentiment and calls this the worst decision the college has ever made
When asked about the plan, Whitman said that his plan was not initiated due to any rise in crime rates or an increased need for the Sault P.D., but as the last step in a progressive plan towards a more effective force. Lake State is the safest school I have ever worked at, he said during an interview, but even so, there are still significantly frequent instances where we require police assistance. He added that there have been significant budget cuts to the Sault PD forces in the past years, and that their availability to assist in University matters has lessened because of them. He cited an occurance at a recent hockey game where the polices response time to a Public Safety call was fifteen minutes, during which the man in question could have easily escaped. If we stop someone, we have no right to demand identification, or detain them for any reason, he said, That requires a commissioned officer, which right now we can only get through the Sault PD. Having commissioned officers of our own would mean additional training and expertise, as well as allowing the University itself to maintain control of situations
Professor Dobbertin, however, has a rather more cynical view of the idea, calling Just an excuse for the administration to arm the security on campus. He also referred to the explanation that the school needs someone to make arrests as Horsepucky (Yes, that is right); There is such thing as a citizens arrest, anyone can make one if they feel the need, the issue comes with the fact that you better be in the right when you do it. Using that as an excuse to put guns into a mix with hot-tempered young people and often booze? This is the worst decision I have seen in my time at this university, and if it happens, I wouldnt want my kid coming here He also called the issue of keeping situations under university control A way to hide things from the courts, and also pointed out that Sault Ste. Marie has eight armed law enforcement agencies  one of the highest concentrations of law enforcement per person in the entire country. The idea that we need to put more people with guns on campus is absurd. We pay for the Sault PD with our taxes, and this university brings millions of dollars into the city every year. This university is within the city limits, it is their job to protect it and there should be more pressure on them to do their job.
Dobbertin also said that it falls to the students now to make their opinions heard on the topic, saying that it was going to be us that were most affected. If there are armed officers on campus, eventually someone is going to get shot, its only a matter of time.
