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PSU trustees vote to deploy armed police officers on campus starting July 1

June 12, 2015 / Phil Lesch

Oregonian
June 11th, 2015

Portland State University police officers armed with guns will begin patrolling the campus July 1, as the result of a PSU Board of Trustees vote Thursday.

The 9-3 vote followed four years of study, debate, campus input and committee reports on the issue, which became heated at times, given university sensitivities and the recent national backdrop of protests against police in Ferguson, Missouri, and elsewhere.

PSU has been an exception among Oregon public universities for having an unarmed campus security force. Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon State University and the University of Oregon have armed campus police officers.

Proponents of training and arming members of the Campus Public Safety Office said that university officers could function with more sensitivity to PSU's diverse campus culture than Portland Police Bureau officers, who don't specialize in academic settings. Opponents said PSU could set a national example by developing alternative approaches.

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