here we go America

[mike braden]

Because these recommendations require congressional approval, the administration is supplementing its proposal with 23 executive actions that will be taken immediately. Those actions include requiring federal agencies to hand over relevant data for a background check system; providing law enforcement officials, first responders and school officials with better training for active shooting situations; directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence; and many more.

This is funny...Eric Holder has already been held in contempt by congress for refusing to hand over documents in regards to "Operation Fast and Furious". Obama used an executive order to refuse the request but now he is going to demand other follow the rules/law when he clearly doesn't....

 

[Mark W]

I read it all. There is not one thing in these executive orders that would have prevented the shootings in Colorado or Sandy Hook. The one that may have, but I'm not sure what this means, is to encourage schools to hire a resource officer. Anyone know what a resource officer does? Is it like a librarian or school crossing guard?

Mark W

 

[Frank Gostomski]

A resourse officer here in MD is a police officer who's full-time duty station is a school (or set of schools). Where I taught, it was a county sheriff who covered a high school, its middle school, and their feeder elementary school. He would split days at each school ( all within a half mile of each other) and was in a (or a combination of) the school(s) all day. He is armed and functioning as a regular county sheriff.

They would also come into the classrooms and do alcohol awareness and safety awareness training. My wife (phys ed. and health teacher) even got a resource officer to come into her aerobics class and teach the girls some personal defense moves. They ususlly do this duty for a couple years and then rotate back to another presinct to go back on the street.

 

[Troy Fields]

I know some schools here in southerm Maine have officers as well, and have for a while. They are also involved with internet bullying via facebook and such as it is being done on school laptops. They are regular officers with their patrol car on the premises and also carrying sidearms. All good in my eyes.

 

[Ed L.]

Troy,

Same in our area. Elementary through high school have had police officers on campus for the past 10 years. Every college campus has security. Now all my kids are grown but in the schools where my kids went because of "resource" officers there was no bullying, no internet issues. The kids learned how to act and be secure on social websites. What to look for as far as predators and had a place to to go if questionable issues did come up. On the area squad cars it's written to protect and serve. The kids felt safe as well as the parents. These people that are so up in arms about having a police officer or two on campus need to step back, take a deep breath and think of the good these officers would provide rather than think the only reason they are there is an attack defense mechanism. These are not the days of old. In the age of information whether an ijournalist or a beat journalist as long as they continue to sensationalize these acts they will continue and if a journalist wants to continue to have freedom of speech they'd better start thinking about defending the whole constitution not just the parts that work for them or one day CNN just might really become the Communist News Network!

 

[Dave Church]

Mark, There was a Resource Officer a couple years back, a heavyset black woman, who , with two police officer shot and killed a man entering a school with a handgun. She drew her gun and talked to him for over 10 minutes maneuvering herself so that he could not get to the interior of the school. It was a very good thing she was there. What I don't understand is after the recent school shootings, people laughed at the idea of having armed, trained officers in the schools and always asked "who is going to pay for this?" Here in Maryland, most schools already have this so I don't understand what the big deal is. If schools are so against it, install a "holding room" that people are "buzzed into", a person then enters and uses a hand scanner to check for weapons and if clean, allows the person into the building. No guns, school is secured....no new gun laws.


dc

 

[Jeff Reardon]

I haven't heard much opposition to the idea of having trained police officers in schools.

I think there is a lot more resistance to the idea of having teachers or other existing school staff get some limited training and serve this function.

There is concern about costs of adding police in schools. I live in a rural state that has a ton of small rural schools, some them literally with only a couple of dozen students in k-8. Adding the cost of a full time resource officer could easily break the annual school budget in some towns.