University police officers say the policy that keeps them unarmed hinders their ability to protect the community.Three officers, who were granted anonymity because they feared disciplinary action, said that as police officers certified by the state and trained to operate firearms, they should be allowed to do their jobs armed.

"Anybody who claims we don't need guns is completely ignorant," one officer said. "We don't have the equipment to protect the community the way we should."

President of the Officers' Union Ronald Haley, who represents the union to the administration and the Board of Trustees, said police officers are supposed to be armed. "It's a standard tool of the trade," he said.

Haley said the issue is not closed, and discussions will continue between the union and the University under a collective-bargaining agreement.

Head of University Services Mark Collins said the issue comes up periodically, but he couldn't recall an incident when having campus officers armed would have impacted the situation.

"I don't believe [a gun is] a necessary tool right now," he said.

But the officers admitted to walking away from situations, mostly motor-vehicle stops, which they said they should have done something about, but felt they had no way of protecting themselves without a firearm.

"Why put yourself on the line if you can die yourself?" one of the officers said, adding he does not understand why they bother to wear bulletproof vests if they are unarmed.

Haley said Brandeis faces the same crime as any other campus in the state. "Brandeis is no exception," he said. "It's no different [at Harvard University, where the police are armed] than it is at Brandeis."

But Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan disagreed.

Because Brandeis is a suburban campus, he said, its crime rate is "very low," and with the partnership of the Waltham police, arming the officers is unnecessary.

The majority of situations requiring the campus police involve alcohol, theft, public-order and noise disturbances, Callahan said.

"I don't see a whole lot of violence on this campus."

But Haley said the University should be prepared for more serious situations.

"What if it does happen here?" he said. "The community that I'm working for doesn't care about me."

When situations arise that campus police cannot handle alone, the Waltham Police Department is called to supplement staff and provide additional resources, Callahan said.

However, officers say this protocol is inefficient and unnecessary.

"[Waltham police officers] don't know their way around this campus," an officer said. "They come here and ask for directions. We know this campus like the back of our hands." The officer said such unfamiliarity can result in a 10-to-15 minute delay in response time.

Officers said they recently had to escort a female student who was being harassed to class from her residence at the Mods.

They said the situation was dangerous because they would have had no way of protecting her or themselves if the harasser had appeared armed.

Another officer said that during an incident last semester during which a group of armed youths arrived at Grad housing, "someone could have died" while University police waited for the Waltham Police Department to arrive.

"We just lucked out that nobody got shot," the officer said.

Haley said they are unable to act until the Waltham police arrive.

"I'm a trained, professional officer," he said. "I should be capable of doing the job I've been trained to do for my community."

Although Haley said the Waltham force is "an immensely great partner," the city police are overextended in serving the University.

Callahan said he stands by the University's policy not to arm the officers because it does not prevent his force from serving the community.

"I don't get paid for my opinion. I'm here to do my job," he said.

Callahan said he hires municipal, state or federal officers for campus events when necessary.

"When we need guns, we'll hire them," an officer said.

In the last decade, the Massachusetts State Police has trained and sworn in college and university police officers, Haley said, a change from when officers on campuses were only a security force.

However, Haley and the officers said the campus still views them as security officers.

"Firearms training is one of the biggest things we do in training," said Haley, who became a state firearms instructor in 1995 and came to Brandeis in 2000.

"It's very rare to find a college or university in Massachusetts without firearms," he said.

Some schools of similar size to Brandeis, including Bentley College in Waltham, reported that they arm their campus police officers.

Wesleyan University police officers, however, are unarmed.

Denying an officer a firearm is like denying a doctor a scalpel, Haley said. "It's a tool that we need to utilize," he said.

Assistant to the President John Hose, who came to the University in 1983, said he cannot remember any campus incidents involving firearms that could have been prevented had the campus police been armed.

Hose cited an example from the 1980s, in which the husband of a former employee walked into a dining hall in Usdan Student Center, shot an employee and killed himself within a matter of moments.

Collins said the time this issue was taken most seriously was following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks when it "came up everywhere." With student input, Collins said the University took a comprehensive look at the policy, but decided against arming officers.

One officer said campus police are unarmed because the staff and administration have an "ultra-left mindset."

"They're liberal and anti-gun," he said. "The University has a full police department that they don't utilize [because] they think guns are bad."

One officer recalled a conversation with a member of the Board of Trustees, who said he opposes campus officers because his wife was killed by a gun.

Collins said despite this issue, the officers have chosen to stay at Brandeis because of the quality of its work environment.

The officers agreed, and said they stay for the paycheck and their coworkers. But they said the campus could still be safer.

"We are the number one target here in Waltham," one said. "You have a responsibility to be proactive instead of reactive.