In the change of a longstanding policy, Princeton University Department of Public Safety (PUDPS) Executive Director Paul Ominsky last week announced that sworn department officers will have access to rifles in the event of “two specific situations С an active shooter or someone brandishing a firearm on campus.”

Mr. Ominsky emphasized the importance of rapid response time in cases of threats of a violent nature and the current thinking that getting an armed officer to the scene as quickly as possible is the safest, most effective response to the presence of an active shooter. Under the current policy, the PUDPS would have to call on the Princeton Police Department (PPD) to provide an armed response to an active shooter on campus. 

While the announcement followed shootings on October 8 and 9 at Umpqua College near Roseburg, Oregon, Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and Texas Southern University in Houston, Mr. Ominsky said that Princeton University has been discussing this change in policy for many months. “This is something that has been under consideration for a while,” he said. “The proposal was made based on Princeton’s circumstances and law enforcement best practices.”

The new policy will be implemented in the coming months, after the 32 sworn officers in the department (there are 65 members of the Department of Public Safety who are not sworn officers and will not have access to firearms in any circumstance), have received additional training with the firearms they would have access to in the specific emergency situations.

Mr. Ominsky elaborated, “We are fortunate to be in a very safe town and we have a safe campus,” but “we have to be prepared even for the unthinkable. We hope that there will never be a need for our sworn officers to use the rifles.”

Princeton Police Department Chief Nicholas Sutter expressed his strong support for the change in University policy, stating, “I see this as a positive and effective step in addressing response time to critical incidents like an active shooter on the campus. Through our joint training with PUDPS we realize that our goal is to stop an active armed threat on campus as quickly as possible. This is a critical step in doing so.”

Mr. Sutter added, “I know that PUDPS and the University have diligently and thoroughly researched this change and found that it is a necessary step, consistent with best practices, to provide protection to their community members in critical incidents.”

The PPD and the PUDPS work closely together on a daily basis, according to Mr. Sutter. “Whether it be on patrol units, detective bureau, or administrative staff, we are completely working together …. We revisit our relationship regularly to see how we can better support each other.”

The labor union that represents Department of Public Safety officers, the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), requested in 2008 and again in 2013 that sworn officers be allowed access to firearms in cases involving an active shooter on campus. The FOP filed a complaint in 2008 that being unarmed posed an occupational hazard, but the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ruled against the union. In 2013, according to the Daily Princetonian, then Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman rejected the FOP appeal, stating that guns have no place on the Princeton University campus.

Speaking on behalf of the University Administration, Treby Williams, the University’s executive vice president, emphasized that “the safety of the University community is our top priority.” She explained, “In situations where there is an active shooter, it is now the best law enforcement practice for the first armed officer who gets to the scene (irrespective of any back-up) to interrupt the shooter and save lives.”