preventing campus shootings

Aran Mull, Deputy Chief of the UAlbany Police Department, said that campus shootings have a “profound impact on community and national psyche,” which is why prevention is key.

UPD is credited with creating the first New York State Division of Criminal Justice certified active shooter response training course.

"Navigating Through the Campus Shooting Crisis." Albany Student Press. October 20, 2015. http://www.albanystudentpress.net/navigating-through-the-campus-shooting-crisis/

When UAlbany Police have undermined the integrity of firearms audits, one has to wonder how effective UAlbany active shooter response training might be.

When UAlbany Police have testified for court that they're inadequately trained, once again one has to wonder.

"In a sworn statement given to State Police on May 19, a fellow SUNY investigator, Matthew A. Griffin, said that Knoebel had called him on May 17 and asked him to remove two pistols from her locker at the UAlbany police headquarters.

"He said Knoebel was comfortable storing her departmental weapon in a police armory safe but she asked him to take another gun, a .25-caliber Ravens Arms pistol, to his private residence for safekeeping.

"Griffin said he did not know at the time that Knoebel was facing imminent arrest on federal drug charges. He told State Police that he only learned of those charges the following day, May 18, after he had already returned Knoebel's unregistered handgun to the police station and logged it in as evidence. [...]

Griffin, 39, has been with SUNY police since March 1997 and was promoted to investigator in 2003. He said Knoebel told him in April that she was considering filing for divorce from her husband, Kenneth, who also was arrested on marijuana charges. Griffin said at that time he advised her to bring any guns she had at home to the police station for safekeeping because a divorce could trigger "emotional" reactions.

Lyons, Brendan J. "SUNY police officer also faces gun charge; Cop arrested on drug charge allegedly asked colleague to move gun." Albany Times Union. July 23, 2011: B1. http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=15255123

In that May 2011 incident, two UAlbany officers committed serious violations of firearms policies. Griffin, in particular, was grossly irresponsible in advising Knoebel - who he believed to be potentially emotionally unstable - to bring all of her personal firearms onto campus. And why did UAlbany Police apparently not notify the system administration office of university police about the incident (a FOIL request for the notification turned up nothing)?

Griffin, a man who clearly lacked the most basic common sense with respect to firearms, was UAlbany's "Chief Firearms Instructor"! Among other things I wonder: do UAlbany Police continue to illegally store unregistered junk guns in their lockers on campus?

"A University at Albany student was assaulted on campus by two men, one of whom appeared to have a handgun. [...] The victim knew the assailants, who are not UAlbany students. Police said no shots were fired and that the assailants fled in a red Honda Civic. [...] University police said there was no danger to UAlbany community and that police agencies have been notified to look out for the Honda."

Waldman, Scott. "UAlbany student assaulted on campus." Albany Times Union. December 13, 2012. http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/UAlbany-student-assaulted-on-campus-4116702.php

If the identity of the men was known, why not identify them; if the red Honda Civic was not a stolen one, why not list the year and license plate number; if they were presumed armed, why were they not considered a danger to the community? If it was that the men were presumed innocent until proven guilty, then why run the article at all; why note that the red Honda Civic was something people were trying to locate?

"No official word on why the law enforcement officer felt it necessary to wear a weapon while moving his child out of the dorm. Although it's apparently legal for an off-duty officer to carry a weapon, Luntta said he was not sure if the man's possession of the gun on campus was a violation of school policy"

Waldman, Scott. "Campus Notebook: Tense moments for UAlbany students." Albany Times Union. May 16, 2013. http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Campus-Notebook-Tense-moments-for-UAlbany-4523960.php

It's not hard to learn what the school policies are about weapons on campus. There's a multitude of rules, all saying more or less the same thing: it's not allowed.

"The rules of the State University Board of Trustees (8 NYCRR §535.3 (j)) prohibit the possession of air guns, firearms, rifles, shotguns or other weapons on a state-operated campus of the University without the written authorization of the campus president."

"No air gun, firearm, rifle, shotgun or weapon may be possessed, stored, discharged, loaded or used on property owned or leased by the University unless the person in possession of said device meets the requirements set forth in these administrative procedures. The president of each state-operated campus may, in accordance with the provisions of section 590.3 of the rules of the University Board of Trustees (8 NYCRR § 590.3), grant written authorization to students, faculty, staff or other persons to permit the possession and storage of air guns, firearms, rifles, shotguns and weapons on campus only where such possession is required or permitted for the purposes specified in said section. When authorized, they will be stored unloaded in an appropriately secured area within or under the control of the University police department of each state-operated campus."

"When authorization is given to University police officers to carry firearms on duty, the weapon to be carried shall be state-owned and approved by the campus president. Only an officially issued firearm will be carried at any time on duty."

"Firearms on State-operated Campuses" policy item http://www.suny.edu/sunypp/documents.cfm?doc_id=367

Evidently Mr. Luntta's paid over $100,000! http://new-york-employees.findthebest.com/l/323009/Karl-Luntta If only we were all so well paid for our own ill-advised or ignorant statements....

One of the best ways to make UAlbany safer might be to replace UAlbany Police and other officials and administrators with better men and women!

On the topic of preventing UAlbany shootings... fraternities at UAlbany are at least as dangerous as UAlbany Police and UAlbany athletics. The student who drank about 60 ounces of vodka in a hazing incident, died from approximately 40 shots to the head (supposing them 1.5 each, a fairly standard shot glass size). A healthy number of shots for someone who is of age, not an alcoholic, etc. is just two shots.

How many hazing deaths have there been at UAlbany? It's difficult to say. There was a particularly nasty case involving a wide receiver on the SUNY Albany football team stripping to his underwear and entering the cold, murky, polluted body of runoff water filled with metal debris called "Indian Pond" wherein he was ">electrocuted to death in front of twelve other pledges and ten fraternity brothers. Because it supposedly did not involve coercion, it wasn't held to be hazing. You know, because guys are always eager to strip to their underwear in front of a bunch of other guys in public and enter a cold, murky, polluted body of runoff water filled with metal debris....

Questions about how the pond had become electrified and why the university hadn't done anything about it being electrified after having been warned by a student about it seem to have gone unresolved, as questions about deaths at UAlbany often seem to do.

It doesn't help matters that the campus judicial administrator at UAlbany, Clarence McNeill, had been a member of a fraternity at UAlbany. Not necessarily damning in and of itself (there are good fraternities), but McNeill's a nasty piece of work as this blog has repeatedly indicated. Also, consider how some of the usual suspects at UAlbany have handled hazing and drinking in the past:

Photographs suggesting hazing and underage drinking by members of the University at Albany women’s lacrosse team have surfaced on the Internet, the second time in two weeks a local college team is facing questions about the off-the-field behavior of its athletes. […] However, all of the images had been removed by 3 p.m. Wednesday, after Times Union reporters started contacting team members for comment.

Singelais, Mark. "Web ensnares UAlbany team." Albany Times Union. June 1, 2006: C1.

Photographs documenting athletic team hazing at UAlbany disappeared (*poof*) after the Albany Times Union, which regularly covers UAlbany sports and which is published by the President of the Board of Directors of the UAlbany Foundation and which is (or historically has been) available free of charge on campus, started contacting team members… fancy that.

There is no evidence to support hazing allegations against the University at Albany women’s lacrosse team, the school announced Wednesday after a three-week investigation prompted by photographs posted on the Internet. […]

The investigation was run by university counsel John Reilly and associate vice president for student success John Murphy, who interviewed women's lacrosse head coach Lindsey Hart and assorted players. University police chief Frank Wiley assisted the inquiry.

Singelais, Mark. “School says no hazing at party; But UAlbany investigation did find alcohol use.” Albany Times Union. June 22, 2006: C1.

Three men employed by UAlbany interview a group of women students, and reportedly none of the women report hazing. Not exactly surprising.

Did the three men interview the women individually - which could be intimidating and inappropriate - or did the three men interview the team of women all at once, in which case there might be strong peer pressure not to say anything? And if any women did say anything, might not they have been threatened by Reilly, Murphy, and/or Wiley not to speak up about it again, considering the type of men Reilly, Murphy, and Wiley are?

With respect to last year's hazing death:

UAlbany sent NEWS10 ABC a list of hazing prevention tips but declined a request for an interview. The school said “We don’t want to get involved.”

Yonkunas, Rachel. "UAlbany students call for harsher penalties after hazing death." News10 ABC. October 23, 2015. http://news10.com/2015/10/23/ualbany-students-call-for-harsher-penalties-after-hazing-death/

That certainly sounds like something the school would say.