On Oct. 22, a 13-year-old Santa Rosa boy lost his life for carrying a realistic-looking replica of an AK-47.
In light of that unfortunate event, it is especially important that we, the Express editorial board, commend the men and women of our Campus Safety and Security office and the Livermore Police Department (LPD) for their handling of the Halloween night sighting of another gun-replica here on the campus of Las Positas College.
The situation in Santa Rosa has led to a public outcry and raised questions about how Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies handled the situation.
LPC nearly experienced a very similar situation, as the people who caused the disturbance here on campus were carrying an Airsoft gun that closely resembled an AK-47, just like the boy in Santa Rosa.
In a split second, the situation could have turned violent if the officers involved had felt threatened, as the Sonoma County deputies are claiming they did.
Instead of a tragic repeat of the incident in Santa Rosa, both our campus officers and LPD managed to respond quickly, efficiently and without incident.
During a time when the issue of surveillance has become such a large topic of debate in the wake of the NSA leaks — the events on Halloween showed that surveillance could have a positive effect when used responsibly.
Our campus is monitored by nearly 80 cameras, each capable of taking high definition imagery and thanks to these cameras, Security was able to spot what appeared to be an assault rifle and respond immediately.
This effective response should foster trust from the campus community that in the unfortunate event that an actual active shooter does find their way onto campus, the response from Campus Security would be as quick and effective as possible.
It is a testament to how well trained our security officers are and how lucky our school is to have them.