Subheadline: RIH Approves Armed Officers in Both Schools
In late January, the Ramapo-Indian Hills Board of Education approved a Class III special law enforcement officer (SLEO) to patrol the halls next school year. This officer would be retired law enforcement and have full police powers, including the permission to carry a gun. SLEOs are also cross-trained to serve as School Resource Officers which may provide deterrence and an immediate response to violent activity. This raises the question of whether or not an armed officer is warranted for school safety.
Schools are frequently targets of violence and criminal activity. For this reason, schools in Bergen County and across the country have passed resolutions to step up security measures. The FLOW area’s elementary and middle schools have already had full-time Class III SLEOs since the beginning of the school year. Indian Hills and Ramapo, however, have had local police officers patrolling the halls, but not regularly.
District Operations, Facilities, & School Security Coordinator Mr. Wolff believes that this action is critical for student safety. “As the father of three children, including one who is still in high school, I wish we didn’t live in a time where we even had to entertain the thought of placing armed officers in a school,” he says. “That said, each year, in collaboration with our local law enforcement partners, we evaluate our security practices and procedures and discuss the value in adding other preventative measures to help ensure a safe learning environment.”
Wolff also “expects the district to have no issues integrating the Class III Officer into the fabric of our school environment.” He clarifies that “the Class III Officer will not act as a school disciplinarian. Our Class III Officer will serve as a deterrence to violent and/or criminal activity, and assist the school in dealing with any emergencies that may occur…”
Student sentiment is mixed.“I appreciate the new security measures,” says Junior Sydney Zearfaus. “I would feel much safer with a full-time guard.” Junior Alexa Koller, disagrees, “I don’t think it’s necessary to have an armed guard in the school. I feel safe without one and like we already have good security.”
While the majority of Board of Education members voted for this action, BOE trustee Dr. Aaron Lorenz, who voted against the proposal, told the North Jersey News, “There are three reasons why I’m opposed to armed guards in schools. The first is that the data is not clear that it makes school safer. The second is I think it alters the atmosphere of the school itself. And lastly, my hope is that both as a board and as a community, we have more of a discussion.”
Dr. Lorenz’s point–that the presence of armed guards may not lead to increased safety– is validated by research. According to the article, “Do Armed Guards Prevent School Shootings?” by The Trace, a newsroom dedicated to covering gun violence, “At least one armed guard was present in almost a quarter of [school shooting] cases studied, and researchers found no significant reduction in rates of injuries in these cases.” The article goes on to explain that researchers “don’t have any data to suggest that more than one person pulling a firearm in the middle of a shooting is going to be somehow any less bad or stop that completely.”
Cassandra Heinsohn, a senior at Indian Hills and the Hills Student Board of Education Representative says schools will never truly be safe until the underlying issue of gun violence is addressed. “The armed guards are a band-aid solution to a much larger problem. If it provides some students with a sense of comfort and safety then that’s one thing. The reality is that it’s ineffectual,” Heinsohn says. “The weapons that individuals who attack schools are using are assault rifles, which are no match for a weapon that any armed guard would carry. Ultimately, I think that this is a step in the right direction for the safety of all RIH students, which is the top priority. Yet, this does not address the core issue, which is the accessibility of assault rifles for civilian [ab]use.”
Whether the community and students are supportive or critical of this new measure, student safety is of the utmost importance. Students, parents, staff, and local governments will continue to collaborate and discuss safety measures in the FLOW area. Ultimately, a positive school culture and climate is just as important as unarmed and armed security,” Wolff says, “and if we focus our efforts broadly across all plains we can build upon creating the safest learning environment possible.”
