The University will form an advisory group to discuss the possibility of campus safety officers carrying firearms, Chief Operating Officer Peter French announced in a campuswide e-mail Thursday.His announcement comes amid heightened security concerns after the recent shootings at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, where a gunman killed 32 people and himself. University President Jehuda Reinharz assured the community after the incident that clear emergency protocols are in place, but in interviews with the Justice earlier this month, campus police officers disputed that assertion, and expressed concern that they are not allowed to carry firearms.

The University has decided to upgrade its existing emergency communications system by providing the use of e-mail and voicemail, text messaging through cellular phones and sirens set up across campus, French wrote.

Reinharz asked French to organize this committee, which will consist of students, faculty and staff, French wrote. The group will meet for the first time this summer, but no other details were released.

-Anya Bergman