Thursday, July 19, 2007
Lt. Governor Judge Addresses Regent University Campus Safety
(Des Moines, Iowa) – Today, Lt. Governor Patty Judge was joined by state security and college education officials to discuss ways to make our state-run college campuses safer.
“Protecting the safety and security of Iowans is the top priority of the Culver/Judge Administration,” said Lt. Governor Judge. “And at Iowa’s Regent’s institutions, the responsibility to protect the lives of our college students falls on those of us in state government. That is why, following the events in Virginia Tech earlier this year, the Governor and I called together our state security experts to look into this important issue, and provide recommendations on how to make our colleges as safe as they can humanly be.”
This assessment was performed by Gene Meyer, Commissioner of Public Safety; Dave Miller, Administrator of Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Gary Steinke, Executive Director of the Iowa Board of Regents, and security officials from each of Iowa’s regents institutions. These individuals presented their findings, as well as areas of potential study, in a meeting earlier today.
Today’s meeting was the beginning of the process to make our college campuses safer. At the upcoming August 1 & 2 Board of Regents meetings, campus security will be addressed. And later this year, a report will be prepared for the Legislature, and that will suggest areas for improvement.