By Marshall Griffin, KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – In the wake of this week's shootings at Virginia Tech, Gov. Matt Blunt on Tuesday announced the formation of a task force that will study how colleges can respond to on-campus violence.
The "Campus Security Task Force: will be charged with making sure every school campus in Missouri a safe place. "This group will focus on initiatives to improve safety standards and heighten security within buildings and facilities on campus," Blunt said Tuesday.
"How quickly you should respond, and in what manner you should respond, obviously needs to be specific for each and every campus, but I think the task force we're establishing can provide some good guidance to all of us as we move forward."
The task force is similar to a panel set up to study security at K-12 schools, after a student fired a gun at a school in Joplin. Public Safety Director Mark James and Higher Education Commissioner Robert Stein will head the task force.
The task force will issue a report this fall with its suggestions for improving campus security.