04.16.07
VA Tech
There’s a lot of speculation and few facts right now about the Virginia Tech shooting. That hasn’t stopped members of the media and interest groups from pouncing ghoulishly on the event to push their particular ’safety before freedom’ agenda on the public as it reels from a tragedy.
As you see the reports, don’t forget:
- Violent crime is down in the US. Despite our constant paranoia about violent death, shooting sprees, and other violence, our country is already a pretty safe place to live. It is less likely that you will be the victim of a violent crime now than at any time since the statistics have been compiled.
- No matter what we do, some violent crimes will occur. Hindsight will always let us see ways that a particular tragedy could have been avoided, but we will never control all the factors that lead to violence, and some will always occur.
- There is almost always a tradeoff between freedom and security. Whether it’s police officers constantly patrolling a campus and watching you, searches and seizures when entering buildings, or random drug testing, your personal freedoms are limited every time you submit to another layer of security. Many of these practices really do little to increase security and are really meant to aid in convictions post facto rather than prevention.
It’s likely that people will be crying strenuously for increased campus security patrols for the next several months. Don’t accept the argument that this will suddenly make your campus a safer place. School shootings and violence on campuses is already rare. Increased campus security will likely only result in increased inconvenience and more citations for petty infractions like jay-walking, littering, and loitering, rather than any real increase in safety.