WPRO News and the Associated Press
SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) – University of Rhode Island officials have postponed arming campus police with guns, citing delays in mandatory background checks, psychological tests and weapons training.
URI President David Dooley had said officers would begin carrying guns this month. University spokeswoman Linda Acciardo told The Providence Journal that arming the police won’t start until mid-April at the earliest.
Spring semester classes start Wednesday.
All 29 URI officers graduated from the state Municipal Police Training Academy, but they need to pass background checks, psychological tests and weapons training – in that order – before they can carry guns.
State police did the background checks in October, which was two months later than planned and delayed the other testing.
URI is the only public university in the country where campus police don’t carry firearms.
