Staying out of Harms way: Royce Harms aims to serve and protect

Now, not only can athletes brag about their guns, but the Department of Public Safety can.

Royce Harms, officer with the Overland Park Police Department acts as a liaison between the police department and the Department of Public safety at the college.

“I provide support to them,” Harms said. “I work with the Community Policing unit which deals with public relations in and around the college to help prevent crime.”

Harms, who is fully armed and began working at the college January 16, has 24 years experience in the Overland Park Police Department and was a School Resource Officer for ten of those years.

Harms hopes to assuage student fears of having an armed officer on campus.

“I would say that a majority of students had school resource officers in their schools,” Harms said. “It’s really no different just because I am here as a resource does not mean something bad is happening.”

The college plans on eventually arming all security personnel.

At the December Board of Trustees meeting Terry Calaway, president at the college that having a School Resource Officer “is a nice interim step for us to continue to provide the best we can good safety and care for our students.”

Calaway addressed concerns that Don Weiss, trustee at the college, had about the pace of implementing armed officers.

“I realize the importance of proceeding on our proposal on whether we should arm our security force or not that we need to proceed with that as deliberately a process as possible,” Weiss said. “But at the same time I’m a little bit concerned in light of the continued shootings incidences with Colorado, for example, that perhaps we are not proceeding with that study and recommendation as quickly as possible.”

Weiss said he believes the college should pursue the armed officer issue further.

Calaway agreed with Weiss and said the college plans to pursue the issue.

“It’s important for us to continue on with that assessment,” Calaway said. “We’re not doing one in lieu of the other. But it is a good interim step for us.”