INDUSTRY FOCUS

Defund Police, I Don’t Think So

An interesting article from Portland OR, or more specifically Portland State University made headlines last week. Why is this so important? On June 29, 2018, a PSU police officer shot and killed Jason Washington trying to break up a fight close to campus. This following 80 days of nightly protests following the death of George Floyd.

Two years later, university officials announced it would disarm the campus police department and patrol the campus boundaries unarmed. University President Stephen Percy said at that time would be the first step in a broader policy to re-imagine safety at the state-funded university in the heart of the city.

“Over the past few weeks, we have listened to many voices across our campus,” Percy wrote in an email to campus announcing the change. “The calls for change that we are hearing at PSU are ringing out across our nation. We must find a new way to protect the safety of our community, one that eliminates systemic racism and promotes the dignity of all who come to our urban campus.”

Fast forward. April 11, 2023.

Portland State University has rearmed its campus police force.

For all the reasons safety and security did not seem important then, those reasons are important now.

Campus officials and the PSU Police Department are seeing an increasing number of weapons on and near campus. The Portland Police Bureau has not been helping that much either.

Situations change, and so they have at PSU. The environment around campus is different and not in a safe way, Perry wrote. Officers are encountering an increased number of weapons on or near campus. Demands from local law enforcement cannot be met because the city seems to be in upheaval. To protect the campus, university police will now be armed while conducting patrols.

Campus officials have chosen wisely by arming the nine swarm officers who patrol the campus confines. The pursuit of aiding people with mental health and behavioral health crises without law enforcement is a leap forward. If everyone is more diligent in keeping the peace, each person will enjoy the university experience a little more.

This article originally appeared in the May / June 2023 issue of Security Today.

About the Author

Ralph C. Jensen is the Publisher/Editor in chief of Security Today magazine.

Featured

New Products

  • ComNet CNGE6FX2TX4PoE

    The ComNet cost-efficient CNGE6FX2TX4PoE is a six-port switch that offers four Gbps TX ports that support the IEEE802.3at standard and provide up to 30 watts of PoE to PDs. It also has a dedicated FX/TX combination port as well as a single FX SFP to act as an additional port or an uplink port, giving the user additional options in managing network traffic. The CNGE6FX2TX4PoE is designed for use in unconditioned environments and typically used in perimeter surveillance.

  • Hanwha QNO-7012R

    Hanwha QNO-7012R

    The Q Series cameras are equipped with an Open Platform chipset for easy and seamless integration with third-party systems and solutions, and analog video output (CVBS) support for easy camera positioning during installation. A suite of on-board intelligent video analytics covers tampering, directional/virtual line detection, defocus detection, enter/exit, and motion detection.

  • Unified VMS

    AxxonSoft introduces version 2.0 of the Axxon One VMS. The new release features integrations with various physical security systems, making Axxon One a unified VMS. Other enhancements include new AI video analytics and intelligent search functions, hardened cybersecurity, usability and performance improvements, and expanded cloud capabilities