Like all Americans, I was deeply saddened and shocked by the
scale of the human tragedy that occurred at Virginia Tech April 16.
This massacre will undoubtedly change our country’s outlook
on campus safety and security.
My sadness and shock, however, turned to disappointment,
frustration and, at times, disgust upon hearing about how some of my
fellow journalists had covered the shootings.
First, there seemed to be many who felt the immediate need to blame the
university and its police department for how the case was handled,
despite the fact that the investigation was ongoing and the information
available was incomplete at best. True, the inquiries that are
currently being conducted may uncover problems that need to be
rectified. Still, I was disappointed that some of my media brethren
succumbed to the temptation to pontificate, regardless of the evidence
known at the time.
Second, as I was interviewed by several news organizations, it
became apparent that some were frustrated by my unwillingness to give
pat answers regarding the very complex challenge of campus safety and
security. It appears American campuses have a serious public relations
problem; the result being that most people have no clue what is
involved with college and school law enforcement and facility
protection.
Maybe I should attribute this phenomenon to our fast-paced
society and its thirst for quick and easy solutions. Perhaps
it’s because we are so accustomed to sound bites that we
leave little room for thoughtful, methodical and meaningful discussions
of this and other important topics.
What really fueled my ire, however, was the televising of Cho
Seung-hui’s video. By doing this, we gave Cho the 15 minutes
of notoriety he craved. What’s worse is now others will
probably emulate him. Indeed, since the Virginia Tech shootings, there
have been many threats against campuses by deranged individuals
claiming their attacks will be even “bigger and
better” than what happened April 16.
Most disconcerting of all was the fact that while these sound
bites and videos were airing, some of the core problems facing campus
law enforcement were not even mentioned. In particular, three issues
come to mind: 1. The disconnect that often occurs between campus
administration and law enforcement; 2. Officer recruitment and
retention issues; and 3. The struggles many campus law enforcement
agencies experience when trying to find the resources to support their
safety and security initiatives. Although I don’t know if
these struggles apply to Virginia Tech, I hear from many of you that
these issues are your biggest challenges.
Now don’t get me wrong — there were many
news organizations that did an excellent, responsible job of covering
the Virginia Tech tragedy and were willing to look, albeit briefly, at
some of the complexities of campus safety. It is my hope that this
coverage will drown out the sensationalistic fervor and educate the
public and media about the challenges associated with protecting a
campus. The lesson our society will hopefully learn is that we must
take campus safety much more seriously and give it the support it
deserves. That is, of course, if those outside of campus law
enforcement can stay focused long enough for universities and colleges
to achieve meaningful progress in securing their communities.
Whatever the outcome, April’s tragedy has led me to
develop an even greater respect for what Campus Safety readers do
everyday. It can be a “damned if you do, damned if you
don’t” type of job. If you overreact, some may call
you a fear monger. If you underreact, others may claim you are trying
to hide the truth or are incompetent. It’s a delicate balance
that is very difficult to achieve. I applaud you all.
Robin Hattersley Gray is executive editor of Campus Safety
magazine and can be reached at robin.gray@bobit.com.
For the unabridged version of this article, please refer to the May/June 2007 issue of Campus Safety magazine. To subscribe, go to https://secure2.bobitweb.com/campussafetymagazine/subscribe/.