Oregon college campuses should have better access to sworn police officers and develop active shooter training programs for all students and employees. Those are some of the recommendations in a draft report issued Thursday by a work group convened by the Oregon governor's office.
Andre LeDuc chaired the work group. He's also the Chief Resilience Officer at the University of Oregon. LeDuc said the recommendations are about preventing more than just violent crimes. For instance, retrofitting more buildings with keycard entry systems.
"Some of the largest crimes that we have, when you look at the numbers, are personal property,” LeDuc said. “And for an incoming student, who's a freshman, who just bought a laptop and bought a bike and that's their means of transportation, property crime is still the biggest impact."
Members of the group briefed Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on their initial recommendations. Brown said she likes the ideas, but added they would take several legislative sessions to implement and fund.
The work group will vote on the final version of its report in October, near the one-year anniversary of the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College. A student opened fire in a classroom, killing nine people before turning the gun on himself.
Copyright 2016 Northwest News Network
