The Price Of Safety

[MJS]

http://www.courant.com/news/education/hc-school-security-newtown-0502-20130504,0,4574771.story

An armed officer at the door of every school — an idea some see as an essential response to the horrific Newtown tragedy — is proving to be a complicated and costly proposition as towns across Connecticut consider how best to ensure their students' safety.

Even in Newtown, where officials decided to hire school resource officers for their elementary schools, some are questioning whether the policy is appropriate.

"I am concerned that our focus on making our schools safe from the outside through the use of police officers and security guards is communicating to those inside that we are in danger, that the only way that we are safe in the school is to be protected by a person with a gun," Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra told a school security conference in Hartford recently.

In the months since the Dec. 14 massacre, municipal and school officials throughout the state — forced to consider if their schools are equipped to respond to a shooting — have debated various measures to improve safety. Proposals range from adding panic buttons to arming guards, the latter drawing controversy for fiscal and philosophical reasons.

After the mass shooting at Sandy Hook school in Newtown, Ct, as usual, it served as a 'wake up' call to every other school around, sending people into panic mode, trying to figure out ways to prevent things like this from happening again. Of course, the obvious is to ensure guns don't end up in the hands of mentally ill people, but that's not what I want to discuss in this thread. What I wanted to talk about was the options that're available. It seems like putting an armed guard in a school is counter productive in the eyes of some, because its giving the wrong impression. We don't want guns in school, but we're going to put an armed guard or cop. Furthermore, the cost of this, can reach towards 6 figures.

So of course, other options are looked at, ie: keycard entry, cameras, bullet proof glass, etc. Yet it still seems like people are still fighting with the thought of having to spend money. Well, what do they expect?

What do you feel would be the best options?

 

[granfire]

arms race among schools?

We have three schools a little further apart than a football field. They share a couple of resource officers, who direct busses, and sit in the office at times.

But having them there full time from 7AM (and earlier) until after 3....I am guessing at an average income per deputy per year at around 35k, a good deal of money here....that's 100 grand a year.
and only one school system. There are many more schools here. The county has a monthly budget of 3 million. Most school systems don't have that on hand from month to month.

A large number of students qualify for financial aid (lunches, etc)

educational budgts are under the chopping block left and right.

I can't see the added expense justified.

Now, architectural measures, I can see that. The initial investment is a little higher, but the long term yield should even that out.

And then there is that one simple fact:
You simply cannot be safe. Not everywhere, not all the time.
You secure one zone, another becomes target.
You turn the school building into Ft Knox, the next guy will blow up a bus. Or a Football game....

 

[Tgace]

Facility design and proceedure will yield FAR more benefit than the guard IMO. Not that I think guards are a bad idea per-se, but they are like putting fire extinguishers in a fire prone hay loft.

 

[billc]

The cheapest and most effective thing...get rid of the "Gun Free Zone," policy. In that way parents who are legal concealed carry permit holders can carry on school grounds, just like they do around other parts of any state with concealed carry. It doesn't cost the school district any money, the bad guys will never know when there will be an armed, determined presence on the school grounds (parents are on the property all through out the day, picking up and dropping off kids from medical/dental appointments, dropping off homework or lunches, reading to kids during the school day...) add to that, teachers and staff who can legitemately carry any where else can then carry on school grounds...again...not costing any money to the school and providing a layer of random security the bad guys will never be able to fully factor into their attack plans.