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Dear Editor,

Mr. Dobereiners article on the efforts to arm your campus security officers was completely off base. The simplified and short sighted argument of simply using cameras to ward off potential criminals is comical at best.

If Mr. Dobereiner truly feels that in the wake of recent on-campus violence across the country, the only response is better mental-health facilities or his so-called ninja, he needs to be educated on the prevention of crime and law enforcement techniques. While I do agree that your campus needs a substantial upgrade to video surveillance, criminals will not simply, leave their guns at home, because your officers are not armed. In fact, the common violent offender would be more prone to commit criminal acts of violence with the knowledge that your officers would be hesitant to respond to calls where guns may become involved.

In addition to that, Mr. Dobereiner overlooked one simple fact, officer and citizen safety. Not only from guns but from other acts of violence. I find it very ignorant for Mr. Dobereiner to invoke the incident at Virginia Tech and then follow that by simply suggesting that campus officers should just call the township police and wait for them to respond. I wonder if that would be his same reaction should he approach his vehicle, while it was being broken into, and the criminal happened to have a gun.

Mr. Dobereiner, the simple fact is, we as police officers, security officers, and public safety servants accepted positions where the risk of serious bodily injury is ever present. Whether there is a nine or ninety-nine percent chance of such harm, we as officers need to be prepared. You may think your campus is completely safe, but then again so did the students at Virginia Tech and Delaware University.

– Officer A.J. Kimball