A commission named by University of Rochester President Joel Seligman has recommended arming some university public safety officers.
In an email to the university community, Seligman says they recommend that 38 officers at the UR Medical Center carry firearms. The Department of Public Safety’s top four officers including the chief would be armed at all times and expected to respond to any serious emergency as quickly as possible.
Seligman writes that officers confiscated an average of 230 knives, eight guns and 33 other weapons a year for the past two years from people in the medical center, including Strong Memorial Hospital and its Emergency Department. In that same period, nine knives, one gun and seven other weapons were found on all the other campuses combined.
Seligman also says the U of R has strong relationships with the Rochester Police Department and other area departments, but there’s an inevitable time lag while information is relayed and police respond.
Seligman says this is a significant change, but universities have had to take steps to deter threats to students, faculty, staff, patients and visitors.