FIU’s department a militarized police

Michael Analco/Contributing Writer

Roger Capote, a senior majoring in Biology with a PreMedical track, saw writing on a urinal stall in a bathroom in the Green Library a few months ago. The writing simply read, “FIU Police has Grenade Launchers.”

Not thinking too much about it he said he chuckled and kept going about his day.

“I actually thought it was a joke,” said Capote. “ I don’t really see why we would have such weapons here in the first place.”

Yet FIU does indeed have military grade weapons on campus. Through the Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO), also known as the 1033 program, law enforcement agencies around the country have been able to obtain equipment such as armored vehicles, M16 rifles and the bathroom stall famous grenade launchers. The program was signed into law by President Clinton in 1996 and has been in effect ever since.

Even though the FIU police department does not have grenade launchers, they did acquire 50 M16 rifles, a small Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle and a mobile command bus for the purpose to increase campus safety according to FIUPD Chief Alex Casas.

Not many students know about the program or much less the FIUPD’s use of it. However Capote believes that if students found out about this, a majority would not be happy.

“Even with having the knowledge that there are military grade weapons on campus, it would put fear into students,” said Capote. “Should these weapons get into the wrong hands, then what do you think would happen? We wouldn’t react kindly.”

However other students don’t feel this is possible. Breana Khouly, a Senior Business major, believes the military equipment can come in handy during possibly difficult situations.

“If there’s a gun shooting or terrorist attack about to happen, at least they’ll be armed and less vulnerable,” said Khouly. “People may want to jump into conclusions that it may be dangerous to have this kind of equipment although we’ll probably never see them in effect ever.”

News of law enforcement agencies, especially on college campuses, obtaining military equipment has been present in recent years. It is eerily simultaneous as stories appearing all around the country about police brutality or excessive police force happening in various major Communities.

“You can’t help but look at what’s been going on around the U.S. when you think about this subject,” said Capote. “Not that the FIU Police are capable of that, but you definitely just feel uneasy.”

Jose Melendez, a Junior double majoring in Public Relations and Sociology, also believes students would feel uneasy about FIU obtaining, but for a different reason.

Melendez said, “Students wouldn’t be afraid but upset. Thinking that the school has funding to provide this material but not the betterment of education or facilities. They would be confused as to why the school finds this to be one of their priorities.”

The idea that the FIUPD uses this equipment to train themselves eases the dilemma on some students, as they feel that the campus police will have a better grasp of what kind of equipment they’re dealing with and gain a heightened sense of responsibility when possibly operating this military technology.

“If it’s used for training then I’m better with it [the dilemma],” said Khouly. “Its better for them to be trained on these weapons for when they need to use them than not to have operated it at all prior to a crisis. Its controversial because it can be seen as a good thing or a bad thing, especially with all that’s been happening around us lately.”

For students like Roger Capote, however, the issue is irreconcilable.

“There haven’t been any incidents yet that I’ve heard of regarding this issue,” said Capote. “But it’s 2016 and a lot of crazy stuff has been going on regarding law enforcement. Anything can happen.”

At the end of the day, the weapons are on campus. Jose Melendez pointed out that he has seen a tank out in the open by the baseball field. However intimidating, it was not purchased by the FIUPD for that factor.

Breana Khouly believes that there’s no reason to worry since the equipment is “out of sight, out of mind.”

“Instead of worrying about FIU having these military weapons, we shouldn’t waste our time having fear. This won’t stop me from going to campus and enjoying my day.”