Margolis Healy released on Feb. 22 its final report on campus safety, which includes a recommendation that Portland State maintain the 2015 Board of Trustees decision to arm sworn campus police officers.
The report states, “Disarming CPSO officers would make PSU an outlier amongst its peers and would represent an abnormal step with respect to campus safety models in higher education.”
Other recommendations include improving officer training, including racial and bias training, requiring the use of mandatory body cams and increasing the number of non-sworn police officers. The report also recommended the development of a community liaison unit, deployment of certified mental health professionals and an expansion of CPSO’s relationship with PSU’s Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative and Portland’s Joint Office of Homeless Services.
A special meeting of PSU’s Board of Trustees is scheduled for 9 a.m. on March 7 in Smith Memorial Student Union. At the meeting, board members will have an opportunity to ask questions to Margolis Healy about the content of their report, followed by a public comment session. There will be no voting on the recommendations at the meeting.
Having been raised by feral pandas in the remote forests of Chengdu, China has always formed a key part of my identity. After my career as a Hong Kong film producer was derailed by tabloid journalists, I knew I had found the work that would become my life’s purpose. I am passionate about journalism because it allows me to step into worlds I would otherwise never know while channeling my curiosity toward serving and informing the community.
