A pending federal bill that would require schools to conduct campus safety assessments and develop emergency-response plans will no longer apply to colleges and universities.
The possible addition of regulations to universities mandated by HR 2352, or the School Safety Enhancements Act of 2007, may be unnecessary to Penn State, university officials said.
Donald Heller, director of Penn State's Center for the Study of Higher Education, said the college lobbyists who rallied for the successful removal of institutes of higher education on the act want to keep regulations uniform.
"They are saying 'Just give us one set of rules,' " Heller said.
The Senate is slated to vote soon on the revised bill, which now only applies to elementary and secondary schools.
"Overall I think college campuses are fairly safe places and I think Penn State is also," Penn State Police Capt. Bill Moerschbacher said. "Certainly you get a year-to-year variation in [crime] stats. But overall the trend shows it's a pretty safe place."
Moerschbacher also said there are issues with these types of legislation as it is sometimes difficult to interpret the regulations for the school specifically.
"When any kind of law like that is passed, it brings up a lot of questions," he said. "It seems apparent what to do but it's not. Sometimes it does get a bit complex and unclear."
Congressman Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., is a co-sponsor of the original bill, which included college campuses.
"Congressman Murphy is a strong supporter of national security everywhere," said Adam Abrams, a spokesman for Murphy. "It's not just about securing borders and ports, but also about making the community safe. It means protecting schools all the way from elementary school through college."
Abrams said Murphy is the son of a Philadelphia police officer, so keeping students and families safe is a priority.
"College campuses across the country, large and small, need to make sure students are kept safe," Abrams said.
Penn State's annual crime statistics, required by the federal Clery Act and released a couple weeks ago, showed total offenses on campus rose by two, from 2,053 in 2006 to 2,055 in 2007.
Heller said it seems much of the new safety legislation is in response to the shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University.
He also said he expects the Senate to pass the revised bill, but Congress has more pressing matters at hand, like the upcoming presidential election.
Bill sponsor Rep. Steven Rothman, D-N.J., did not want to comment on the bill until the Senate votes, said Jean Roehrenbeck, Rothman's spokeswoman.
Moerschbacher said Penn State Police regularly review their response plans and are constantly looking for trends.
Penn State uses a text messaging system to send safety alerts to students, which began in 2006.
