Task Force Wants $16 Million for Campus Security

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY - A task force formed to examine issues of security on Oklahoma's college campuses is asking for $16 million to provide "baseline funding" for notification, response and mental health counseling budgets, particularly on smaller campuses.

The request came on Wednesday as the Campus Life and Safety and Security Task Force formally released its annual report.

The task force is asking legislators to appropriate the $16 million through the state Department of Homeland Security, which would then distribute it on an as-needed basis to Oklahoma's colleges, universities and career technology centers.

Gov. Brad Henry created the task force following the April 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech University, where mentally troubled student gunman Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people before killing himself.