The University concluded its plan Friday to arm a portion of GW Police Department officers with 9 mm handguns, according to University release Friday.
The release states that once all supervisor positions are filled, 22 officers will carry guns and that all GWPD officers are trained in handling firearms and de-escalation. The announcement comes after trustees directed the University in April 2023 to arm about 20 “specially trained” GWPD officers in response to school shootings and heightened national gun violence, a decision met with pushback from students and faculty through letters and campus protests.
The release specifies that there will be 22 armed officers once vacancies are filled, but the department does not currently list any job postings on their website. The 22 officers will make up about a third of the department’s total force, according to the release.
The plan to arm GWPD officers was divided into three phases, to arm the top two officers, to arm five more and finally to arm all supervising officers on the force.
The University solicited feedback from community members on campus safety in May 2023 through the Campus Safety Advisory Committee, the release states. CSAC held one meeting in July after its original inaugural meeting was postponed due to the pro-Palestinian encampment in University Yard in May.
The Board’s decision to arm officers was followed by a wave of faculty dissent including a May 2023 letter signed by 219 faculty members that called on the Board to reverse its decision. In October, the Faculty Senate passed a resolution urging the University to halt plans to arm officers until they could provide detailed reports of the community comments submitted to the GWPD website as well as a detailed financial report on the cost of the plan.
The University failed to provide the requested data or feedback collected from the community and did not postpone phase three at the Faculty Senate’s urging.
Over 750 students signed a petition in April 2023 against the plan to arm officers, and later that month, more than 150 students participated in a march in opposition to the Board’s decision.
GWPD originally planned to complete the arming in April but postponed the rollout until CSAC was able to hold their first meeting. The University also solicited community feedback through the GWPD website and said in a release that they used community input to revise the original firearm implementation plan but did not state what input was used.
The release said officers “most likely” to interact with members of the GW community, non-supervising officers, will not be armed. Officers dispatched to a residence hall — as long as there is no threat of violence — will “generally” not be armed, according to the release.
An Independent Review Committee, first mentioned by the university in a May 2023 release, will serve as oversight over GWPD. The release states that the IRC — made up of three faculty members, two staff members and two students — will review any use of force involving a firearm and will produce an annual report including recommendations the body has to alter practices within the GWPD.
