Armed Faculty/Staff training for Higher Ed, what should be covered or asked about?

[PNWTO]

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum.

So the institution where I work has decided to allow certain staff and faculty members to be armed; provided they complete a training course first that will be overseen by an instructor who I have never heard of but he has apparently helped to stand-up similar programs in the region. He has a metro LE and Fed LE resume.

So, over the next couple of weekends I am wondering if there is anything that may be overlooked I can ask about? We know for sure that the school will provide radios, training ammo, ammo carry ammo, but so far first aid and not getting shot by first responders have not been addressed. Is there anything else I should consider that maybe the SMEs here or folks with similar experiences can offer? I'm sure the curriculum is solid but I'm the kind of student who wants a lot of questions.

[butler coach]

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[Luke]

Check your messages. I has money I want to give you.

[Hambo]

I am wondering if there is anything that may be overlooked I can ask about?

Body armor and increased life insurance.

[RevolverRob]

1) Standardized equipment?
2) Annual training requirements?
3) Open carry or concealed? Duty to notify students/staff/faculty?
4) Will weapons need to be locked on campus?
5) What zones will be off-limits and what type of facilities will be provided for securing carried weapons?
6) Policies to protect administration/staff that have to shoot? I.e., will you be provided council? Will you be suspended pending an investigation by police and an independent review board? Will there even be an independent (read: outside of the university) review board? Will you be reinstated with full back-pay if you are cleared.
7) What are the direct responsibilities of the administration for protecting students, staff, and faculty who are both armed and unarmed. Armed faculty could suffer repercussions about their "armedness" and be ostracized, slandered, libeled, etc. What will the administration do to prevent and/or support the actions necessary to address these concerns.

___

All of this is pretty serious business. The thing is - when you're concealed out on the street, you're protected by state/federal law, common sense, and hopefully an insurance policy of some type. That's true when you're just concealed in a classroom too. When you're packing in a class room by an administration giving you a gun, ammo, and training - They accept responsibility but also have the ability to change the rules to some level. It cuts both ways. I hope that the retained SME is knowledgeable about how institutions of HigherEd work and is well versed in the legal environment. If they are not, my suggestion is to opt out of the program, until such time the university provides clear, written, legally backed policies. Otherwise you could find yourself on the end of a bad lawsuit with no backup from an administration that realizes they fucked up and are in a hurry to bury it. The easiest way to bury trouble, is to bury the troublemaker and burn the rest of the evidence. And that wouldn't be the first time someone in Higher Ed threw other people under the bus. Cutthroat, backstabbing, bus throwing, disloyal, lying, conniving, manipulative...stop me when I hit an adjective that is inaccurate for describing Higher Ed.

-Rob

[Clusterfrack]

Can you tell us which College/University this is?

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Wow - I don't know if I believe it (not in denying what you said). Excuse redundancy with RevRob

Some concerns:

1. Are they supplying all the gear - guns and holsters too? Will you be mandated to carry all the time?

2. Are you expected to a first responder, run to sounds of gun fire as officers are now being trained to do? Hiding in your officer is no longer an option.

3. Liability - are you covered for criminal and civil court costs? From my administrative experience, I know that the out is as follows - we will cover you unless you violated procedure. Then you are on your own. You need individual coverage. If you are faculty, AAUP has malpractice insurance (does it cover this - I dunno) but you need independent coverage. In a suit, the school will settle and blame you if it is to their financial advantage. What extra insurance benefits go to your family or to you for medical expenses if it goes bad?

4. Are you going to be identified as the official gun owner - and gun lunatic to others at the school? That gets a shoot me first card (officers get that card) but do you want it? Going to wear a vest and duty belt? If you get into an altercation with a student or colleague, will they claim they were intimidated by the gun nut? That's a current thread in higher ed. discussions of gun carrying.

I am mixed about being an 'official' pseudo-cop, SWAT member. I much prefer to carry concealed, get legit training on my own and make my own decisions as how to respond. If I wanted to be an official LEO I would sign up for that.

To repeat, if you screw up, the school will screw you up for their benefit. Do they have a two shot rule? Oh, Dear - you just shot Billy Meatball 16 times when he complained about his 'D' and he couldn't play in big game!

[Matt O]

Cutthroat, backstabbing, bus throwing, disloyal, lying, conniving, manipulative...stop me when I hit an adjective that is inaccurate for describing Higher Ed.

Yep, that sounds about right. I very much second Rob's advice - proceed carefully, if at all.

[98z28]

Glen and Rob had great suggestions. I'd be particularly concerned about liability coverage. Is there even case law to guess at how this kind of thing would play out in the inevitable criminal and/or civil suits following a shooting? You know what you're dealing with in LE, but an offically recognized armed staff/faculty member?

On the actual shooting side, some serious training should be happening. Role playing in the classrooms with Sim guns/airsoft for active shooter scenarios and shoot/don't shoot scenarios with victims and aggressors present are incredibly eye-opening. Dealing with post-shooting issues like first aid and communicating with responders should also be there.

If they aren't providing all of that training, I'd be hesitant to sign on as a guinea pig.

[PNWTO]

For the sake of brevity and conversation I will address Rob's questions, so I apologize if anyone's reply is not directly addressed.

1) Standardized equipment?
Nope. The school will purchase and issue ammo but everything else is BYOB.
2) Annual training requirements?
Quarterly, 50 rd pass/fail quals. Must pass when every weapon intended to carry to be under policy.
3) Open carry or concealed? Duty to notify students/staff/faculty?
Concealed, student will not be notified and the jury is out if there will be signs or shit posted. Employees will be notified some peers are armed, but no names named. Pretty small institution, people will know who's who fairly quickly.
4) Will weapons need to be locked on campus?
Nope, on body. "On body" includes fanny packs, murses, etc.
5) What zones will be off-limits and what type of facilities will be provided for securing carried weapons?
Broken and unreadable at this point.
6) Policies to protect administration/staff that have to shoot? I.e., will you be provided council? Will you be suspended pending an investigation by police and an independent review board? Will there even be an independent (read: outside of the university) review board? Will you be reinstated with full back-pay if you are cleared.
We have been assured positively to all the above, but we still have a few more training weekends and have yet to see the actual policy we will be signing on to... so we'll see. I won't buy into any ambiguity.
7) What are the direct responsibilities of the administration for protecting students, staff, and faculty who are both armed and unarmed. Armed faculty could suffer repercussions about their "armedness" and be ostracized, slandered, libeled, etc. What will the administration do to prevent and/or support the actions necessary to address these concerns.
Our direct responsibility should a situation arise is assisting in school SOP and doing area denial of sorts. Through the rumor mill, a few staff have said they will quit if guns are on campus, to include my immediate coworker.. oh well. The president and the boardroom have our backs, should the leadership change I expect this program will as well.