University of Virginia Library

Bromwell Cites Reasons
For Carrying Of Guns
By Security Policemen

By Tom Adams
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

At last week's Student Council
meeting a motion was passed to
"Ask that the Department of
Security instruct its patrolmen to
end the practice of carrying firearms."
In an interview yesterday
W. Wade Bromwell, Director of
University Security, told The Cavalier
Daily that "I haven't been sold
on the idea of taking guns away
from police officers."

Mr. Bromwell said that he
thought the shooting of a student
by a campus policeman at Maryland
was "unfortunate." He would
not comment any further than that
because he did not know the full
details.

Policy Rules

He did say, however, that if a
similar incident had occurred here
he would not "rush out and change
all the policy rules merely because
of one case of poor judgment.

"We review our policy following
such incidents," he explained.
He said that the Maryland
incident would be reviewed
this June at the annual meeting of
the National Association of College
and University Security Directors
in Houston, Texas.

The director of the Maryland
campus police, Dan Wiseman will
be at that meeting, Mr. Bromwell
explained.

Gun Safety

"Certainly the police officer who
gets no firearms training should
not be allowed to carry a gun."
The Director of Security went on
to explain that new recruits go
through a complete training program
that reviews safety programs
and gives them gun training.

In addition to this training, all
officers on the security force attend
a minimum of three sessions
of firearms training during the summer
months.

FBI Instruction

A qualified firearms instructor,
who is recommended by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation,
gives the instruction. "The weaker
people get additional training,"
Mr. Bromwell explained.

If an officer has had to use his
gun, even if only drawing it from
his holster, he has to file a
memorandum explaining his
actions. From this information,
training procedures can be updated
and modified.

Mr. Bromwell stated that very
rarely does an officer ever have to
use his firearm. "People respect
a policeman because they know
he can carry out his instructions.

"We have an image of a policeman
in the United States as wearing
a badge, carrying a gun and
so on, and if you take away his
gun you remove his authority."

Unruly Drunks

He gave an example of this as
the emergency room of the University
hospital. Often drunks and
unruly people wander in because
they heard of a car accident. They
often get rowdy but as soon as an
officer from security walks in "even
these drunks" calm down.

"If the officer had not had a
gun would his presence have had
the same result? I don't know the
answer to that but we're not like
England," Mr. Bromwell said.

"I wouldn't want to try it especially

Security Director Bromwell

In Conference With Officers

in this time of rising crime
and where almost everybody can
get a gun."

Mr. Bromwell went on to give
other examples. "We had a situation
where an officer was merely
investigating an applicant for a job
and wanted to ask a few questions
of the man who lived next
door. That man had just committed
a serious crime and in his
panic he could have done almost
anything."

Unicop Assaulted

When asked if an incident had
ever occurred where a Security
policeman had been assaulted, he
mentioned one incident where a
drunk with a broken bottle had
injured a doctor and attacked the
policeman when he entered the
hospital emergency room.

The police officer was bruised in
the fight but he brought the situation
under control without having
to use his weapon.

Sidearm As Equalizer

"The sidearm is an equalizer.
If you took it away a suspect could
simply run away from an officer
or, if he was brawny, fight it out."

Mr. Bromwell went on to comment
"They can take away the
gun but who is going to give the
instinct to the policeman warning
him of a provocation so he can
retrieve it from his car. We have
to take surprise into account."