PHOENIX — Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne made a commitment after being elected late last year: getting more police officers inside the state's public schools.
The state leader of schools on Wednesday claimed that having more "school resource officers" (SROs) are a solution to keep students safe amid a rise in mass shootings this year.
Numerous studies, however, show that SROs don't lessen the severity of shootings. One study even found schools with SROs had multiple more shooting deaths compared to schools without SROs.
Horne: SROs given 'my first priority'
“I don’t want on my watch, or anybody else’s watch for that matter, to see somebody invade a school and shoot people and us have another massacre,” Horne said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Horne cited a recent poll conducted by Phoenix-based OH Predictive Insights that reportedly show most of Arizona's parents and educators are in favor of SROs.
Around 81% of 614 people recently surveyed across the state were in support of having a police officer on school grounds, according to Horne. In Maricopa County, around 78% of about 400 surveyed also support school resource officers.
“I give my first priority to school resource officers, but that doesn’t mean I’m against having counselors in the schools,” Horne said. “I think kids should have somebody to talk to when they have emotional problems.”
Money is available for the districts who would like to have SROs, Horne said. The Arizona Department of Education said they have $50 million available that was funded through a state "safety grant."
That grant also funds school counselors, which is what some of those who oppose on-campus police would like to see instead. The Superintendent said if money is left over from the schools that want an on-campus officer, then it’ll go to counselors.
Districts have until April 22 to apply for the funds.
“The biggest tragedy that could happen in our state is if a maniac invades a school and kills 20 kids, and if parents were to find out that the school could have had a school resource officer to protect the kids and didn’t do it, you can imagine how the parents would feel about that,” said Horne.
Multiple studies: SROs are not the solution
A 2021 study by the American Medical Association found that there were 3 times as many people killed when a school resource officer was present.
Researchers examined every K-12 school shooting spanning the past 40 years. The next best predictor of an increase in deaths was the presence of an assault rifle.
The Journal of Adolescent Health found “no evidence that the presence of school resource officers lessened the severity of school shooting incidents” in its 2021 study.
That same year, a study by the U.S. Secret Service analyzing school violence found “despite prompt law enforcement responses, most attacks were stopped by means of other than law enforcement intervention.”
“As a parent, I am not a fan of it,” said Tara Brunson of Gilbert.
“I don’t think having police officers on the grounds is going to help the situation. I think, if anything, it heightens the children’s nerves. They’re already having to do drills where they are hiding and doing the lockdowns, and I don’t think they are addressing the bigger issue.”
Lyric Brown, a 14-year-old freshman at Poston Butte High School, said she believes SROs are a good idea, but not the solution.
“[Horne] may want to help the schools, but helping the schools start with the root of the problem, which is the guns,” Brown said. “I would like to see stricter rules on guns and stricter ways for guns not to fall into students’ hands.”
Valley's largest high school district to vote on SROs Thursday
Not all Arizona schools currently have uniformed police officers on campus.
The Phoenix Union High School District in 2020 chose not to renew its contract with the Phoenix Police Department to use officers at schools. The decision was made after numerous student protests and petitions.
The district’s governing board, however, has a meeting on Thursday to discuss bringing on-campus officers back. The district's school safety advisory committee recommended their return after seven months of meetings and debate.
The board is set to only receive the committee’s recommendation. A ruling may not come until June.
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