Reporter Volume 25, No.25 April 21, 1994

By MARK WALLACE
Reporter Staff

After many weeks of debate, the Faculty Senate voted 49-6-1 last week
to support the adoption of an updated version, dated March 25, 1994,
of the document "Proposed Policies Governing the Use of Side Arms By
Public Safety Officers at the State University of New York at
Buffalo."
	The document was drafted by Professors William George, James
Lawler, Dennis Miller, Herbert Schuel, and Faculty Senate Chair Peter
Nickerson in collaboration with Robert Palmer, vice president of
student affairs, and Clifford Wilson, associate vice president for
student affairs.
	William George, speaking in favor of the updated policy, said
"It's not often that we deal with life and death issues, but in this
case we are. It's appropriate that the process took us this long,
because it's important to get this right. The Faculty Senate is not a
rubber stamp organization, and we've made effort to find a common
ground.
	"We've had input from all sides to work up a document that's
favorable to everyone involved," George said. "We've substantially
expanded the authority for officers to carry weapons, but have stated
what kind of campus we want."
	George said that section II.2. of the document, which makes it
an objective and policy to "retain, in so far as possible, the campus
tradition of unarmed Public Safety Officers, particularly foot patrols
in academic and student activity areas during normal daytime hours,"
was central to the importance of the document. "The rest of the
document talks about when guns can be carried," George said.
	When and where guns will be carried will be a decision made by
the Director of Public Safety, George said. "Only the Director has the
right to arm and disarm officersQthe officers themselves do not have
that right," George said.
	George noted that section III.1. of the document, which reads
"Side arms shall be a part of the standard equipment issued to Public
Safety Officers at the University of Buffalo" used to read that side
arms "shall not be part" of that equipment.
	Another important change in the updated document, according to
George, was section III.2., which, George said, listed occasions when
officers might be expected to carry guns, but was not meant to be an
inclusive list. George pointed particularly to section III.2.d., which
says that officers may carry guns when on car patrol. That section,
George said, meant that the black box in which officers previously had
to lock their weapons when on patrol would not be part of their
equipment in the future.
	George also pointed out the importance of section III.3. of
the document, which reads that "Side arms should not be worn when
Public Safety Officers are working crowd confrontations or disruptions
where a considerable number of people have gathered for the purpose of
protest, or in any other situation for which the Director of Public
Safety judges firearms to be inappropriate."
	"What we have said is that Lee Griffin, director of Public
Safety, has done a fine job, but that we will define the rules for his
successor," George said. "What the document has not addressed is an
oversight committee, or how to find a replacement for Griffin." George
added that if, on any occasion, faculty saw Public Safety officers
carrying guns in situations that faculty felt were inappropriate,
complaints could be made to the director of Public Safety.
	Robert Palmer said that the administration "realizes how
important it is for the Faculty Senate to have input on major policies
like this one. We appreciate your interest, and the time you've taken.
I think we've reached common ground.
	"You've given us the tools to provide a safe environment,"
Palmer said. "The main issue for us was the importance of arming of
officers on car patrol. We want to keep the tradition of unarmed
officers, and are comfortable with the proposed policy."
	In a dissenting opinion, Samuel Schack of Mathematics said
that data provided by Public Safety shows no increase in violence at
the University at Buffalo over the past decade. "We have no evidence
that we need increased police arming on campus," Schack said.
	In other business, Jennifer Crocker, chair of the Faculty
Senate Budget Priorities Committee, said that her committee had
focused on four basic priorities this year. These included focusing on
the governor's proposed budget for this year as it relates to the SUNY
system and to UB in particular, and on the UB budgeting process that
takes place through the Office of the Provost, Crocker said.
	The BPC had also looked at the UB budget for Sponsored
Programs and Technology Transfer, and at the extremely complex SUNY
benchmarking process for relating the state budget to enrollment,
Crocker said.
	In other business, the Faculty Senate passed a resolution
saying that they, jointly with the administration, would conduct
regular surveys of the Quality of Faculty Life and share those results
with faculty, and that regular updates should be provided in a
suitable campus publication concerning UB's effort to improve the
areas identified in the surveys as needing improvement. Another
resolution calling for the designation of a centrally located physical
facility on each campus for a University Club, and recommending that
there be adequate consultation with constituent groups on the
establishment of those facilities, was also passed.