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Until today, campus officers were allowed to carry firearms only with prior approval from the university president or his or her designated authority, and only in assignments of extreme danger.
Regent President Michael Gartner and Regent Rose Vasquez cast the only votes against arming campus police. Regent Bonnie Campbell was absent from the meeting.
Prior to the vote, Gartner told his fellow regents he saw no compelling reason to routinely arm campus police after he thoroughly reviewed crime statistics from the three universities.
"There is no evidence that an armed policeman would have changed the outcome of any incidents so well documented in this report," he said.
He said 80 percent of the crimes that happen on campus are alcohol and drug related and that does not warrant routinely arming campus police. If the police need arms, he added, he felt it was satisfactory that they are available at the discretion of the president or his or her designated authority.
Regent Robert Downer disagreed with Gartner, citing a statistic included in board documents that places ISU among the top quarter of universities in the Big 12 and the University of Iowa in the middle of the Big 10 in the number of violent crimes.
"That, together with a lot of other data that has been presented, leads me to reluctantly accept this is a change whose time has come," Downer said.
Before today, Iowa State University, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa were the only universities in their respective conferences to not allow their campus officers to routinely carry firearms.
The regents were scheduled to vote on the policy change last month, but instead asked the board office to draft a comprehensive plan for campus security that would include the notion of arming campus police.
In addition to arming campus police, the policy calls for an emergency communication system to be implemented at the three universities that includes a text messaging system and outdoor warning system.
Guns will be carried only by sworn and certified officers who receive the same certification and training -- including firearms training -- as all other law enforcement officers in the state of Iowa.
Included in the certification are background checks, psychological evaluations and completion of 520 hours of basic training at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy.
In the current systems, ISU will arm 31 officers. UI will arm 32 officers and UNI will arm 18.
The university presidents, their vice presidents for business and finance and the directors of public safety at the three universities all recommended earlier this summer to arm campus police.
Debates were held over the summer and on into the fall on the Ames and Iowa City campuses whether to arm campus police. On Monday, the board office received a petition signed by 128 people - mostly students and mostly from ISU -- to stop the arming of campus police.
William Dillon can be reached at 232-2161, Ext. 361, or William.Dillon@amestrib.com
