The Plainfield (IL) Police Department’s recent request to allow its School Resource Officers (SROs) to store AR-15 rifles in gun safes at their high school generated quite a buzz. (See the Chicago Tribune story entitled Assault rifles in schools a sign of the times.) But was the request really unreasonable? Actually, the request by the police is not unusual. […]
Category Archive: School Resource Officers (SROs)
School officer shoots burglar suspect; school police not 2nd class
The shooting of a suspected burglar by a Pasadena (Texas) school police officer appears to have triggered an immediate scrutiny of school police officers as much as it did a scrutiny of the shooting itself. The suspect, an eighth-grader, was shot by the officer who responded to a school trailer burglar alarm at 12:30 a.m. […]
Police use school to train for active school shooting incident
Active shooters have captured more of the public’s attention in K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and other public sites. While I have always emphasized not being alarmist and keeping context when discussing school shootings, it is prudent to include active shooter scenarios in training for law enforcement officials and their school partners. In Shepherdsville, Kentucky, […]
Simultaneous active shooter drills test school, police preparedness
Many school crisis plans are on paper and sitting on shelves. Some schools and police conduct tabletop exercises to take plans closer to reality. Last Friday, schools and police in the Greater Cleveland area put their plans to the full blown test in simultaneous active shooter drills in multiple suburban communities. The Brecksville-Broadview Heights School District, Brecksville and […]
Why adequate supervision is critical to good school safety
A female is allegedly raped in a gym restroom. A student is assaulted in a hallway during class change. A stranger is found in an elementary school restroom. The first question raised by parents, the media and perhaps eventually lawyers is: “Was supervision adequate?” The answer to that question must be assessed on a case-by-case […]
Police in Schools are Prevention, Not Cuff-n-Stuff, Programs
Civil rights advocates who portray police in schools as overly arresting kids are simply wrong. Police officers who work in schools, commonly known as School Resource Officers (SROs), generally perform more as prevention programs where officers prevent incidents versus taking on a “cuff’n’stuff” role with the intent of increasing student arrests. That’s not stopping civil rights and other […]
What Parents Expect After a Shooting & Pipe Bombs at School
A 14-year-old South Carolina high school student shoots at a school resource officer (SRO). He has two pipe bombs in his backpack. A search of the student’s home finds a wide array of items including shotgun and handgun shells, multiple cigarette lighters, exploded bomb pieces, 14 carbon dioxide cartridges, and the list goes on. Authorities later find […]