Senator asks Campus Safety Task Force to consider expenses and practicality when making recommendations

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah System of Higher Education Campus Safety Task Force updated the legislature on what they are doing to make Universities safer after Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University.

The task force is currently working on recommendations after their formation last October. University of Utah Chief Safety Officer Keith Squires spoke during today’s higher education subcommittee saying they would like to be preventative in their responses.

Senator Kathleen Riebe expressed some concerns with recommendations that could be expensive or impractical, pointing to the state’s current efforts in K through 12 schools.

‘There’s some stuff we’re supposed to do right now that really doesn’t lend itself to K through 12 teaching,” said Riebe. “And we’re out of compliance and people are mad at us.”

There are some asks that have been very difficult for classrooms to implement.

“We have to have a fluid system where kids can come and go,” said Riebe. “And I know that safety-wise, it doesn’t make sense, but education-wise, it does. So finding that balance between education and safety is really important for K through 12.”

She says all the recommendations have been very expensive for K through 12 and asked Commissioner Geoffrey Landward to take that into consideration.

Commissioner Landward and University of Utah’s Chief Safety Officer Keith Squires presented to the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee. 

Chief Squires says in his experience it has been best when they have been able to respond proactively to threats.

“We do a lot of responding to emergencies, but those things that we can do in advance, partnering with our other agencies, that public safety agencies that surround us, as well as our stakeholder partners within the universities, will make the difference,” said Squires.

Landward said right now the task force is split into two working groups to discuss specific ideas.

“The first is focusing on preparation and prevention. And then the second is focusing on response during and post crises,” said Landward.

The task force consists of experts across multiple fields like police, events, emergency management and behavioral threat assessment.

In her comments Riebe also spoke on a bill she has filed that would require any speaker at a university to have insurance, seeming to refer to the public shooting death of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University this last summer.

“I feel like in the last incident, it’s a tragic incident, that’s a multi-billion dollar industry that could have had insurance that would have provided a little bit of safety for the taxpayers of the state of Utah,” said Riebe. 

The task force will present their official recommendations this summer.

 

Related: UVU begins independent security review, creates memorial committee after Charlie Kirk shooting