05-25-2013, 02:54 PM
Police chiefs, Palm Beach County sheriff support armed officers in every school, as district officials weigh cost
Posted: 8:26 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013
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Sheriff Ric Bradshaw (2008 file photo).
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By Jason Schultz - Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Palm Beach County police chiefs and Sheriff Ric Bradshaw urged the school district Tuesday to put at least one armed police officer on every public school campus to respond to incidents like the Connecticut school massacre.
But district officials, who face an annual cost of nearly $7 million to add the officers, say they are still trying to determine the best overall plan to keep students safe.
“You cannot mitigate the circumstances with an unarmed person,” Bradshaw said Tuesday at a Palm Beach County Association of Chiefs of Police forum on community violence.
School Police Chief Lawrence Leon confirmed Tuesday that his department has completed a school-by-school analysis of local security needs that began after the Dec. 14 shooting that killed 26 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. In a closed meeting with the school board this month, he offered two proposals.
One proposal would assign at least one officer to every school. That could require hiring 140 sworn officers and cost at least $6.6 million a year in salaries and benefits, Leon estimated.
A smaller proposal, costing about $2.5 million, would continue having elementary schools share police officers, but would hire more to lower the number of elementary schools each officer would be responsible for throughout the day. This would give the officer more “face to face time” with the students at their schools to form relationships of trust that can lead to tips about potential threats, Leon said.
He did not say exactly how many officers would be hired under the smaller proposal, and said the number of elementary schools each officer would patrol would depend in part on schools’ proximity.
All middle and high schools in Palm Beach County have at least one armed officer on campus at all times. But for elementary schools, one officer is assigned to patrol several different campuses throughout the day.
School Board Chairman Chuck Shaw, who attended Tuesday’s forum, asked the police chiefs whether to put an armed officer in every school and all the chiefs who spoke supported the proposal .
“It’s a good thing,” Palm Beach Gardens Chief Stephen Stepp said. “It’s expensive,” he noted, but he added that studies of mass shootings show having someone armed on campus who can respond to the threat in the first five minutes dramatically decreases the number of casualties.
Jupiter Police Chief Frank Kitzerow said the sight of armed officers on every campus would not only act as a deterrent to would-be shooters, it would give the public a sense of security.
“People, when they see that, there is a perception of safety,” Kitzerow said.
Bradshaw said said while either proposal is costs money, they are a more effective way of preventing school shootings than another idea the school district is already proposing: spending $800,000 to put unarmed police aides in every school.
Bradshaw said that if an armed intruder came on a campus with an assault rifle, an unarmed police aide patrolling the grounds — what Bradshaw described as “having a guy on a golf cart with a cellphone” — wouldn’t be able to stop the shooter or even warn school officials.
“That guy wouldn’t even get to his cellphone,” Bradshaw said. “That money would be better spent on more armed police.”
After hearing the chiefs’ input, Shaw said he wants to take a comprehensive look at all school security needs — including the need for more officers, guidance counselors and mental health providers for students — when the school board discusses its budget priorities for next year.
School board member Mike Murgio said he supported having at least one armed officer for every school. He said only an armed officer would be able to respond to a situation like a shooter.
Murgio repeated his refrain that cities and the county should kick in some of their tax dollars to pay for more police, since those school officers are providing a public safety service in their jurisdictions.
“I know no one likes to raise taxes, but I would like to broach the subject with the (Palm Beach County) League of Cities and the county commission,” Murgio said.
Schools Superintendent Wayne Gent said he would not decide which proposal for officer staffing levels he would recommend to the school board until after the Florida Legislature settles on how much state funding it will give school districts for next year.
“The biggest challenge is the economics of it, the money piece,” Gent said.
Gov. Rick Scott has proposed an additional $10.5 million in state funding to be shared by all school districts for safety operating expenses, like more police officers. But the Florida School Board Association has estimated that putting an officer in every school statewide would cost more than $100 million.
Posted: 8:26 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013
Email 0Facebook 0Twitter 0ShareThis 14
advertisement
Related
Palm Beach County sheriff: $2 million to create ‘violence prevention units’ as safeguard against Newtown-like school massacre
+Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw chided for using tax money for meals photo
Sheriff Ric Bradshaw (2008 file photo).
Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting
By Jason Schultz - Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Palm Beach County police chiefs and Sheriff Ric Bradshaw urged the school district Tuesday to put at least one armed police officer on every public school campus to respond to incidents like the Connecticut school massacre.
But district officials, who face an annual cost of nearly $7 million to add the officers, say they are still trying to determine the best overall plan to keep students safe.
“You cannot mitigate the circumstances with an unarmed person,” Bradshaw said Tuesday at a Palm Beach County Association of Chiefs of Police forum on community violence.
School Police Chief Lawrence Leon confirmed Tuesday that his department has completed a school-by-school analysis of local security needs that began after the Dec. 14 shooting that killed 26 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. In a closed meeting with the school board this month, he offered two proposals.
One proposal would assign at least one officer to every school. That could require hiring 140 sworn officers and cost at least $6.6 million a year in salaries and benefits, Leon estimated.
A smaller proposal, costing about $2.5 million, would continue having elementary schools share police officers, but would hire more to lower the number of elementary schools each officer would be responsible for throughout the day. This would give the officer more “face to face time” with the students at their schools to form relationships of trust that can lead to tips about potential threats, Leon said.
He did not say exactly how many officers would be hired under the smaller proposal, and said the number of elementary schools each officer would patrol would depend in part on schools’ proximity.
All middle and high schools in Palm Beach County have at least one armed officer on campus at all times. But for elementary schools, one officer is assigned to patrol several different campuses throughout the day.
School Board Chairman Chuck Shaw, who attended Tuesday’s forum, asked the police chiefs whether to put an armed officer in every school and all the chiefs who spoke supported the proposal .
“It’s a good thing,” Palm Beach Gardens Chief Stephen Stepp said. “It’s expensive,” he noted, but he added that studies of mass shootings show having someone armed on campus who can respond to the threat in the first five minutes dramatically decreases the number of casualties.
Jupiter Police Chief Frank Kitzerow said the sight of armed officers on every campus would not only act as a deterrent to would-be shooters, it would give the public a sense of security.
“People, when they see that, there is a perception of safety,” Kitzerow said.
Bradshaw said said while either proposal is costs money, they are a more effective way of preventing school shootings than another idea the school district is already proposing: spending $800,000 to put unarmed police aides in every school.
Bradshaw said that if an armed intruder came on a campus with an assault rifle, an unarmed police aide patrolling the grounds — what Bradshaw described as “having a guy on a golf cart with a cellphone” — wouldn’t be able to stop the shooter or even warn school officials.
“That guy wouldn’t even get to his cellphone,” Bradshaw said. “That money would be better spent on more armed police.”
After hearing the chiefs’ input, Shaw said he wants to take a comprehensive look at all school security needs — including the need for more officers, guidance counselors and mental health providers for students — when the school board discusses its budget priorities for next year.
School board member Mike Murgio said he supported having at least one armed officer for every school. He said only an armed officer would be able to respond to a situation like a shooter.
Murgio repeated his refrain that cities and the county should kick in some of their tax dollars to pay for more police, since those school officers are providing a public safety service in their jurisdictions.
“I know no one likes to raise taxes, but I would like to broach the subject with the (Palm Beach County) League of Cities and the county commission,” Murgio said.
Schools Superintendent Wayne Gent said he would not decide which proposal for officer staffing levels he would recommend to the school board until after the Florida Legislature settles on how much state funding it will give school districts for next year.
“The biggest challenge is the economics of it, the money piece,” Gent said.
Gov. Rick Scott has proposed an additional $10.5 million in state funding to be shared by all school districts for safety operating expenses, like more police officers. But the Florida School Board Association has estimated that putting an officer in every school statewide would cost more than $100 million.