Disarming campus cops is a mistake. Yet some believe otherwise.
Harold Jordan, a senior policy advocate for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, penned an op-ed for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Thursday, which was reposted on the ACLU’s main website Friday, that said cops stationed at Pittsburgh city schools should be forced to continue working without sidearms, reported theblaze.com.
“Having officers patrol the hallways with firearms sends a negative message to students,” Jordan wrote. “It makes many students feel that they are being treated like suspects.”
According to American Military News, Jordan says that resource officers at Pittsburgh city schools should be forced to continue working without guns, because there’s no evidence that arming them would increase safety.
Security expert John Rafferty said this “makes no sense,” since the school police officers in question are fully sworn, fully trained law enforcement officers.
“We’re not having a debate between unarmed security guards versus armed security guards,” Rafferty said. “These are people that actually can carry firearms, and they’re not being allowed to. When they see somebody with a firearm in school, they shouldn’t have this negative orientation that goes along with it.”
Moreover, the rationale used by Jordan is as logical as removing fire prevention measures in school because fire hoses, sprinkler systems, etc. send a “negative message.” The reason students don’t perish by arson in school is because there are dozens of fire codes mandating safety. Sadly, students are not protected in the same manner from a gunman that wishes to do them harm. Disarming sworn police officers on a school campus simply creates a soft target ripe for attack.
Consider this illustration. Police investigators are legally required to provide “knock and notice” when serving a search warrant. This requires law enforcement to knock on the door of the location to be searched, announce their presence, and demand entry before force is made, unless exception is approved by the judge.
While standing outside the house of gang-banger and preparing to serve a tactical search warrant, I had a friend jokingly say under his breath, “Police department, we DON’T have a search warrant and we’re NOT demanding entry.” While I smirked, his announcement was the exact opposite message that needed to be sent; not only for legal reasons, but to ensure the gangsters knew we were serious.
Disarming cops on school campus is just as comical, AND foolish. Taking guns away from duly sworn police officers tasked with public safety is so nonsensical, it isn’t worth the argument. Yet sadly, there are people that buy into this shortsighted argument.
Perhaps those who believe this philosophy should reflect on the death of Metropolitan Police Officer Keith Palmer from London England. Officer Palmer was UNARMED on duty in the parliamentary grounds when a terrorist attacked him with a knife and stabbed him to death March 22, 2017.
Mr. Jordan said there is no evidence that arming officers would increase safety. Sadly he is overlooking a common denominator found in every mass school shooting; the absence of firearms possessed on site by good people tasked with protecting others.
If we are wise enough to implement fire code mandates, we should also be smart enough to deploy measures increasing pubic safety for students. Arming the “good guys” is one of those procedures.
– Jim McNeff, editor-in-chief, Law Enforcement Today
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