PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Without informing students, Portland State University quietly rearmed its patrolling officers with guns on Feb. 14.
PSU Police Chief Willie Halliburton announced on April 11 that he rearmed the school’s nine patrol officers after at least one unspecified, on-campus incident involving campus police and armed suspects.
“Recently our officers encountered individuals on campus with weapons,” Halliburton said. “This has made me make the hard decision to have more armed patrols on campus.”
The decision comes less than a year and a half after the university agreed to disarm its patrolling officers in response to public outcry related to the fatal shooting of Jason Washington.
Washington, a 45-year-old Black man, was shot to death by campus police near Sixth Avenue and College Street on June 29, 2018. While Washington was allegedly attempting to break up a fight at the time of his death, a concealed gun that he was carrying fell onto the ground during the scuffle, prompting officers to fire their weapons.
A grand jury ruled in 2018 that no criminal prosecution would be brought against PSU Officers James Dewey or Shawn McKenzie in response to the shooting. However, PSU agreed to a $1 million settlement with Washington’s family in response to the shooting in 2019.
PSU President Stephen Percy also issued a joint statement on April 11 in response to the recent policy change, which he said was released “in the interest of transparency.” Although the armed patrols were reintroduced in mid-February, PSU spokesperson Christina Williams confirmed with KOIN 6 that this week’s statement is the only notification that has been sent to the campus community regarding the rearmament.
“The shift to unarmed patrols was a groundbreaking change in campus policing and I am proud of our campus public safety office for taking this approach,” Percy said. “Unfortunately, the environment around the PSU campus has changed since that time. Our officers are encountering an increasing number of weapons on and near campus and they are receiving limited assistance from the Portland Police Bureau due to increased demands for officers across the city. These factors have necessitated a change in practice on the part of campus police officers: In order to protect our campus, our nine sworn officers are having to go on most patrols carrying arms.”
While armed patrols have resumed on the PSU campus, Halliburton said that officers will still have the choice to respond to incidents unarmed if they feel the call does not warrant firearm protection.
“We have not abandoned unarmed patrols,” Halliburton said. “You will see our officers respond to certain calls in an unarmed manner.
First-year student Chance Lowe said they don’t like the idea of more weapons on campus.
“I felt upset and kind of betrayed,” they said. “There is a lot of work done over the last few years to disarm them, and I don’t want that to be for nothing.”
Meanwhile, other freshmen like Elias Sawab say they feel safer with armed campus police.
“In the day it’s definitely a lot safer,” Sawab said. “There’s a lot of people walking around, going to classes and it’s a busy campus downtown. But during the night, I definitely think it’s way more sketchy.”
Percy said that although the decision may seem like a “step backward” in the university’s “efforts to achieve lasting change,” the university could reconsider reimplementing regularly unarmed patrols if it was deemed appropriate.
“While this may seem like a step backward in our ongoing efforts to achieve lasting change, it does not alter our commitment to actively pursue a campus safety system that prizes de-escalation, respects the dignity of our diverse campus community, and finds a path to return to regular unarmed patrols on campus,” Percy said. “As a campus, Portland State is an important player in the overall safety of our city and the well being of all of its residents. We will continue to coordinate with city officials and other organizations to support our Downtown community, and we will seek to collaborate with programs like Portland Street Response, that assist people experiencing mental health and behavioral health crises without law enforcement.”