Armed schools?

Should select educators be armed in schools? What is the difference in an educator and a police officer?

Both are in schools, both interact with the student body and both have full access to the facility. Both are human beings and share the common elements associated with being such.

Should select educators be armed in schools? What is the difference in an educator and a police officer?

Both are in schools, both interact with the student body and both have full access to the facility. Both are human beings and share the common elements associated with being such. For example: both are subject to mental illness, both are susceptible to psychological collapse and both are vulnerable to major life altering events (i.e. illness, death of a loved one, divorce, financial hardship, suicidal thoughts / actions and many other situations). In other words, both share the exact same dynamics associated with being human.

Above are the similarities of the educator and police officer. Now let’s look at the primary differences in basic form:

That is the difference in the educator and the police officer. In other words, both are human! When you look at the situation in this light, you must ask yourself why we wouldn’t arm certain qualified educators to function as a dual role in our children’s schools. This is the best solution, not to be confused with the PERFECT solution (as perfect solutions do not exist).

1. The police officer volunteered for a position the educator did not.

2. The police officer went through a screening process (including an in-depth background investigation, testing, oral interview panels and polygraph examinations).

3. The police officer who passed the above screening process received tools and training in the proper use of the tools.

4. The police officer must pass a proficiency test (qualification) twice a year with the tools.

5. The police officer receives additional training (updates) at least once per year in the use of the tools and techniques associated with using the tools.

6. The police officer can, and does, engage in daily duties in schools while in possession of a weapon.

The expense in screening and training certain qualified educators would be minimal in comparison to placing police officers in every school. Police officers in middle and high schools work well as they handle many other situations to include: disturbances, traffic crashes, destruction of property reports, larcenies, etc. Police officers partake in very little of this in elementary schools in comparison; therefore, a dual-role person (the educator) will yield a much higher return on the investment (making it practical and effective, again not to be confused with PERFECT).

I have spent many hours training many law enforcement officers in the use of lethal force, firearms and how to survive lethal encounters. I have trained many types of officers ranging from new recruits (some of which had never picked up a firearm) to veteran officers. I am certain, beyond any doubt, the training we provide these screened volunteers can be provided to carefully selected educators.

I want to reinforce a point: We do not and never would, endorse any type of requirement for educators to be armed for the same reason we would not force someone to accept a position of a police officer. Simply put, some people are not of the proper make-up for that type of profession. However, I guarantee you there are educators with the proper mental make-up who are willing, right now, to step into that role.

Statistics show a remarkable decrease in active shooting attempts in schools which have armed police officers assigned to them. Why would we not want to broaden such a proven and effective deterrent with ready and willing educators who are already in place? Besides, when each second counts the police are only a couple minutes away.