Why Does KVCC Want Police?

Kalamazoo Valley Community College has moved to create a new police force.

KVCC moves ahead to form new police agency

TEXAS TOWNSHIP — Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s governing board voted Tuesday to establish a law-enforcement agency at the college.

The approval came moments after the close of the second of two public hearings this month on the proposed police force.

“Now with the resolution, we have the board authorization to go to (the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards) and ask them if they would give us permission to develop” plans for a new law-enforcement agency, KVCC President Marilyn Schlack told the Gazette following the public hearing.

Schlack said the college will contact the commission next month but administrators need no further approval from the KVCC Board of Trustees to create the new agency.

Why does KVCC want a police force anyways?

Violence on other school campuses is among reasons KVCC officials are making this move, Schlack said, pointing to the 1999 attack at Columbine High School in Colorado and the massacre at Virginia Tech in 2007.

In the wake of the Virginia Tech killings, KVCC moved to tighten security, such as improving the security-camera system. Officials say a campus police department is part of a heightened focus on safety.

“It’s our goal not to be reactive. It’s our goal to be proactive,” Schlack said.

College officials can now call on county police in case of emergency, but Schlack contends that having officers in-house is necessary.

“The issue is the response time,” she said.

First of all, school shootings aren't all that common, particularly in college. Second, did KVCC take a look at the actual performance of the police during those shootings? At Columbine, police hid outside the building until the shooters had committed suicide. At Virginia Tech, police hid behind trees until the shooter had committed suicide. In both cases, 'officer safety' came before actually saving lives.

Of course, by far the best way to prevent mass shootings is to stop disarmament policies and allow law-abiding citizens to carry guns. Economist John Lott conducted a study on mass shootings several years ago.

We found that when states passed right-to-carry laws, these attacks fell by 60 percent. Deaths and injuries from multiple-victim public shootings fell on average by 78 percent.

To the extent that attacks still occurred, they overwhelmingly happened in the special places within right-to-carry states where concealed handguns were banned.

Not that any university would consider allowing self-defence.

So why does KVCC want police?

Officials expect the new agency to consist of security guards — what the college now employs — and also sworn officers. The size of the force and details of how it will operate are to be determined.

So KVCC already has security guards. The article doesn't say whether they are armed, but there shouldn't be any problem with arming them if they are not. Guards can respond as quickly as police.

So why does KVCC want police?

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