The gunfire sound effects in an animated depiction of a shootout between police officers chasing burglars bother Jeff Pertl when he views the UW-Platteville law enforcement department Web site.

“We were like, ‘Are you kidding?’ ” said Pertl, president of United Council, a Madison-based lobbying group for students at 24 of the 26 UW campuses.

The Platteville campus police site’s cartoon probably is a joke, Pertl said, but the issue of allowing police officers at UW campuses to carry firearms is something he takes seriously.

This semester Pertl is researching crime statistics of each UW campus to determine whether he thinks armed officers are necessary.

Of the 13 four-year UW campuses, 11 will have armed certified police officers on campus after Platteville completes its current firearms training, according to the UW System’s Office of Safety and Loss Prevention.

In July UW-Stout switched to allowing officers to possess firearms at all times rather than the previous limit between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m.

UW-River Falls and UW-Stevens Point do not have armed campus officers.

Pertl, who says he’s “not a huge fan of guns, in general,” said he plans to check for criminal trends and study the types and rates of crimes at each campus.

While looking most closely at universities with armed police in Wisconsin and nationally, Pertl said he will try to find if there is more of a need for officers to carry firearms on those campuses.

“I really can’t imagine we need handguns,” Pertl said. “Local law enforcement is armed. Shouldn’t that be enough? Do we need to arm our campus police?”

Pertl said he thinks local police should handle the more dangerous, “intense” incidents.

UW-Eau Claire’s University Police Chief David Backstrom said the university has a certified police unit trained specifically for the campus and is separate from Eau Claire police. He said University Police respond quicker to campus incidents than city officers and should be equipped properly, such as having firearms, as first responders.

“The protection of the students is the most important element,” said Backstrom, who added that the first few minutes of handling a situation are the most critical.

Backstrom said firearms are necessary equipment for any police officer.

“It’s like firemen not having equipment available to them when fires take place,” Backstrom said of unarmed policemen.

In May 1994, then-Eau Claire Chancellor Larry Schnack reversed a campus ban on its policemen carrying firearms, which had been in effect since 1987. Schnack reversed the policy to deal with any potential hostile situations.

At that time, Schnack said he based his decision mainly on Student Senate voting 14-13 earlier that spring for arming the officers. A survey done by Senate that spring stated that students were divided on the issue.

Since 1994, campus officers have discharged service weapons twice, both involving wildlife, Backstrom said. Otherwise, officers draw weapons primarily when making felony arrests.

Campuses need to form a partnership with their police units, Pertl said, and he questions whether arming officers makes them more like adversaries.

He said he respects the likelihood that campus officers would oppose becoming disarmed.

“I don’t want people to think, ‘Well, they’re students, they’re liberal, they’re crazy,’ ” Pertl said.

The study is not meant to condemn campuses allowing armed officers, Pertl said. He plans to present his findings to United Council’s general assembly possibly by December with a resolution or presentation to the Systems Board of Regents as potential results.

Discussion amongst campuses on the issue is wanted, Pertl said, which may get the System to set an official policy.