Some members of the Boston School Department’s police force believe they might be unprepared to respond to a mass shooting like the one in Newtown, Conn., because they cannot carry guns and lack bulletproof vests and adequate training to defuse such a situation.
School police also could encounter challenges in summoning armed officers from the Boston Police Department because their decade-old radio system prevents them from communicating directly with the city’s police force or Emergency Medical Services, said a lawyer representing some officers.
Comments
The Boston School Police Officers do a great job! They are taken for granted by the school department. Maybe now that things are brought out into the open they will receive the proper training and resources to better protect the students and staff in the Boston Schools.
All of the training in the world is meaningless without the proper tools. An unarmed School Police Officer, facing an active shooter, would just become another victim. More guns may not be the answer, but until we do come up with one...
Boston School Police Officers are some of the most uneducated city hacks that could NEVER even pass the simple police officer civil service test. Give me a break--now they want guns? The Boston police handles all 911 calls to the schools and their officers are highly trained in active shooter responses. It is time that the Mayor look at abandoning this school police unit and putting real Boston Police Officers in the schools if we ever get to needing armed police in the schools. Most of these current School Police are whack jobs--now they want guns?? NOT!!!!
Is Mr. Wlder the leader of the Boston Public Schools?? We rarely see or hear Dr. Johnson anymore in person since the scandal last year...she should be able to speak on occasion for herself...very sad.
Do we need yet another quasi police force within the city? Each of these "forces" come with their own overhead and expenses (management and dispatch among others). The need for school safety is important. I owuld advocate finding ways to apply BPD resources into an overall security plan before arming school guards. Perhaps improving communications into a common disptatch function couplrd with close proximity PBD patrols during school hours may be an alternative.
It is very possible the Boston School Department’s police believe carrying guns will bolster the force chances of better pay. However, the Boston School Department’s police force need neither guns or a pay raise. There are many police departments located in the vicinity of Boston Schools.
Recommending armed police be put in U.S. schools was smart marketing by the NRA. Sure to increase gun and ammo sales for the manufacturers hard hit by the end of the Iraq and Afgahnistan war.