Nutter: arming all school police 'ludicrous,' 'insane'
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia School District by the Philadelphia Inquirer's Kristen Graham.
Nutter: arming all school police 'ludicrous,' 'insane'
Kristen Graham
Mayor Nutter’s reaction to the National Rifle Association’s suggestion that armed guards be placed in every American school?
“That message was an insult to the lives of those children,” the mayor said in an interview Friday, referencing the grade schoolers murdered a week ago in Newtown, Ct. “That we would face the prospects of shootouts in our schools, and utilize the precious and declining resources in public education to put armed personnel in every school is insane.”
Nutter dismissed the idea as coming from someone “who had clearly watched too many old Westerns” and said that NRA executive vice-president Wayne LaPierre lost all credibility because he "didn't have the guts, didn't have the sensibility to at least acknowledge that there is a gun problem in the United States of America."
Nutter is the parent of a daughter who attends Philadelphia public schools.
Yes, some Philadelphia public schools have unacceptable levels of violence, but universal guns are not the answer, he said.
An unarmed police force monitors the Philadelphia School District, with officers permanently stationed inside many schools and others making do with roving patrols. Armed city police officers do work inside some of the city’s larger high schools.
Every Philadelphia public high school also has a metal detector or hand-held scanner.
The idea of arming officers in Philadelphia schools has surfaced in the past.
In 2004, then-schools chief Paul Vallas said he wanted to place armed officers in high schools, an idea that was staunchly opposed by Mayor John Street and others who believe that the move would create a police state inside schools, and inappropriately criminalize behavior that ought to be handled with discipline. More behavior supports and front-end intervention is the answer, not armed officers, they said.
Vallas’ suggestion came after a Strawberry Mansion student was gunned down near the school.
But the idea never really gained traction.
After "Assault on Learning," the Inquirer's investigative series on school violence, ran in 2011, an administration official said that both Nutter and Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey believed putting city police inside some schools was one way to help curb violence.
A city police officer, Chief Inspector Cynthia Dorsey, is now head of the school district's safety force.
Rather than arming a few cops, they are trying to disarm the whole country.— harbc- How did the disarmed schools at Virginia Tech, Columbine and Newton make out? — Mottz
- Columbine had an armed guard on duty. — danF
- Is the NRA going to pay for all these armed guards at every school in the country?— pic man
- Train and arm the teachers. Issue resolved.
— Professor1982 - you think little of teachers and now you want to arm them.
dope.— the lopez! - No pic man, what is your point? — Mottz
- A MODEST PROPOSAL:
Flood all manner of weaponry into Philadelphia! Guns, knives, bazookas, baseball bats, whatever. Lock down the borders and let the herd "self cull". Educate the survivors. Just as insane as not arming those who are charged with protecting us and our kids!
"A well trained militia..." A militia is made up of trained and motivated volunteers from many walks of life. "...being necessary for the maintenance of a free state..." Freedom to pursue life (protection), liberty (education, worship, newspapers, work places, etc.) "...the right of the people..." (Us! Black, White, Rich, Poor, Urban, Suburban, Ex urban and Rural, all of us!) "...shall not be abridged." We the people are ultimately responsible to care for ourselves, our communities, our children, our schools, etc.
Now, while we may disagree on how best to live under this Constitutional stricture, the responsibility to do this remains ours!
Merry Christmas! But protection, whether self or provided by the government is not free! Santa Obama cannot just give it to you! God Bless the Children of CT. God Bless the hundreds who die each year in our cities. And God save us from well meaning, do nothing, proposals from government at any level!
— OrvalEugeneFaubus - Couple of comments:
- why don't we install stronger locks and shatter resistant glass on the main doors of schools. Will it stop a determined attacker - no , but it will slow them down.
- why don't we lock classroom doors once class starts so if someone does get in and are going down the hallways , they will have a difficult time getting into a classroom.
- Finally - why can't the prinicpal, some teachers , front desk, etc carry pepper spray or a bear spray canister? Not perfect but better than charging a gunman with nothing.— workin365 - stronger locks, pepper spray. HAHAHAHAHAHA
why do all that when qualified teachers and admins can be armed— Nphilly - Someone needs to teach Mayor Nutter about the basics of physical security. An increase to the number of armed guards patrolling schools in the Philadelphia School District will definitely have a positive impact. I don't disagree with some of his arguments for stricter gun control, but it's not an either-or kind of thing, and there is no quick fix.— Yoda117
- Good point pic man. Maybe the NRA can pay for the cops using their multi BILLION dollar lobbyist fund. The NRA is for change, as long as THEY don't have to change. They think its okay for a school teacher to own 8 guns including an assault rifle, which her mentally disturbed son can use to kill 26 people. NRA=MORONS— MoronPatrol
- Columbine High had an armed guard. Obviously that didn't work out too well in preventing any violence there. Plus his "solution" does nothing to address shootings we've seen in movie theaters, malls, etc.— jc1313
- hahahahaha....what is ludicrous & insane is the condition of your city, Mike, in EVERY aspect. Philadelphia is a gigantic embarrassment & disaster...on the empty headed mayor is worried about this crud.— kelprod2-freemarket
- When I lived in Orlando, the Orange County Sheriff's Office had SRO's in the schools and every one of them was armed. I'm a liberal gun owner and I don't have a problem with schools having a School Resource Officer (or whatever you want to call them) that is armed. I'd rather have someone there who is trained to handle situations like what happened in CT than no one at all.
During the school year, you’ll frequently find her hosting live chats about the district on Philly.com. Please do pass along the scoop about what’s going on at your Philadelphia public school; Kristen welcomes tips, story ideas and witty banter at kgraham@phillynews.com or 215-854-5146.
You can also follow Kristen on Twitter here.
