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Campus Police In Spotlight At Virginia Tech Hearing

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The shooting Thursday at Virginia Tech that left two dead comes on day two of a hearing to appeal a $55,000 fine levied by the U.S. Department of Education after a student's 2007 shooting rampage left 33 people dead.

The government says that in 2007, campus police waited more than two hours after two students were fatally shot in a dorm room before sending out a warning email to all students.

By the time that email went out, gunman Seung Hui Cho had barricaded the doors of a classroom building where he killed more than 30 people and himself.

Virginia Tech claims that campus police thought the first victims were targeted, that the shooter left the campus, and that they followed standard protocols for notification that were in place then.

The case is once again shining a light on campus police, who lately have been criticized for pepper-spraying peaceful "Occupy" protestors at UC Davis, and for failing to investigate sexual abuse allegations at Penn State.

Guest:

  • Paul Dillon, deputy police chief at the University of Maryland Baltimore County

This segment aired on December 8, 2011.

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