I am concerned about what is being done or, maybe a better description, what is not being done, about campus security at DU. I have been a member of the DU faculty since 2006.

  Despite the deadly violence on campuses across the country over the last several years, including the University of Colorado on Oct. 5 of last year, I see no improvements in campus security at DU.  Moreover, crime near the DU campus is almost becoming a weekly to monthly occurrence.

  Our DU Campus Security are unarmed. At Ohio State University  (OSU) in late November, an armed OSU officer shot and killed an individual before further physical harm was done, to probably include deaths.  Virginia Tech was not that long ago (2007) and resulted in 32 deaths. There have been some 52 attacks on campuses in the U.S. since Virginia Tech, many resulting in deaths.

  In my view, we need to have armed DU Campus Security, install much better lighting and include cameras across our entire campus. Criminals don’t like daylight, and they don’t like having their picture taken. These can be important deterrents. If we expect armed security from the Denver Police Department to arrive within the proper time, then we are fooling ourselves.  Seconds save lives, as they probably did at Ohio State and CU. Moreover, parents are becoming more and more concerned about their children being safe on campus and, in most cases, they are writing the tuition checks. They are important DU stakeholders.

If we ever have the horrific scene of DU students/staff/faculty lying injured or dead on our campus, could we give a positive response to the question “What was the DU Board of Trustees doing about campus security?”

Andrew J. Sherbo

Teaching Associate Professor of Finance