LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Police officers at the University of Kansas will soon start carrying stun guns as a safe option for situations when lethal force isn’t appropriate or necessary.

University Police Chief Chris Keary tells the Lawrence Journal-World that all department officers will be trained and armed with a stun gun by the end of the spring semester.

Keary says most campus police departments in the Kansas Board of Regents system already carry stun guns, as do local law enforcement agencies. He says he wouldn’t be surprised if people had assumed the department was already carrying them.

The cost of the conducted-electrical weapons, including holsters, cartridges, batteries, training supplies and other related equipment, totals to nearly $68,000. Keary says the university’s Public Safety Office is covering the cost.