The senseless killing at schools is never going to stop.But if we had cops at our schools wouldn’t kids be safer? The question then arises how much would it cost for us to put a cop in every school…
“The median annual pay for a police officer in 2010 was $55,010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
There were 98,817 public schools during the 2009-2010 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics
If you were to install one full-time cop at each and every school in the United States, it would cost more than $5.4 billion.”
Does anyone think that cops at every school is a bad idea? Would everyone be willing to pay for those cops via an additional tax or the removal/replacement of another tax of equal value?
$5.4 billion is a lot of money, for only one cop at every school. The campus I teach on is pretty big, and one cop would have a hard time being everywhere at once.
We don’t put one cop at every movie theater, church, music festival, or night club because shootings have taken place as these places. We don’t need a cop at every school.
Didn’t Parkland have a cop? Seriously what is a single person armed with a handgun going to do against someone with an AR-15? Sure eventually they could shoot the person with the AR-15. I mean they would be able to respond instantly at all parts of the school. They have to be super careful, so they don’t you know shoot an innocent child.
At best they just reduce the number of children killed, they don’t stop it from happening.
Also, you need to basically double the salary number to get the full cost, to figure in things like benefits.
well it’s your country, your kids, and your money. i’ll just offer that from a foreign perspective it all seems bonkers. that you take it as read that school shootings can’t be stopped. that arming teachers or posting sentries in school is on the table, that 5 billion seems a reasonable number to spend on it . . . from outside the american context, it just sounds crazy.
Didn’t Parkland have a cop? Seriously what is a single person armed with a handgun going to do against someone with an AR-15? Sure eventually they could shoot the person with the AR-15. I mean they would be able to respond instantly at all parts of the school. They have to be super careful, so they don’t you know shoot an innocent child.
At best they just reduce the number of children killed, they don’t stop it from happening.
Also, you need to basically double the salary number to get the full cost, to figure in things like benefits.
They did. And I don’t think you are going to attract the best officers to this assignment. Too young, too old, too inexperienced, etc.
It’s a good idea and some school districts already do this. My kids schools all have a full time cop and the kids know him and he is there all day everyday. We live in a wealthy district and pay high taxes so I assume that goes to pay for it. This is not new and he has been there for over 10 years.
It may not prevent all shootings and he can’t be everywhere at one time but still provides a benefit as a deterrent and helps parents feel safer knowing there is an armed, trained officer there at all times. A little more on the tax bill is not a big deal in return.
Slightly reprioritize from Department of Defense funding ($686b) to protecting schools and you have the money. Or look at the Department of Homeland Security ($47.5b).
What about people with no kids? Should they be expected to pay into this program at an equal level as those with kids?
Without taking a position on wisdom of the base proposal of cops in every school, if that was to be implemented, then absolutely people with no kids should pay at same level as those with kids. Just like the portion of property taxes that fund schools is the same whether the property owner is a parent or not.
Negative, but I fully expected that response from someone. As I said - should they be expected to pay in as much as those with kids. I did not say, should they be expected to pay in at all. Seems a fair consideration, not a ‘fuck you and your kids’.
We’re in the same situation all of our high schools have cops the entire day school is in service. I don’t expect gun-control to ever be an answer and we don’t have the facilities to treat all the mentally ill that need help. I would pay more in city taxes to give my children more safety.
What about people with no kids? Should they be expected to pay into this program at an equal level as those with kids?
If they want to get their money’s worth, they could always adopt. Some countries charge more for families w/o kids than families w/ kids for things like public swimming pool memberships.
I think all of our schools have a cop or at least a cop liaison. I wonder nation-wide how many times a school cop has prevented an attack. Seems like a hard thing to stop/prevent when it’s usually a student pulling out a gun in a classroom or cafeteria. Most prevented attacks have probably been the result of students turning in potential attackers or an attacker being uncovered by his social media writings.
I’ll be anxiously watching this thread for people who want to simultaneously lament how limited the impact of adding police to schools will be, but who also frequently attack those who don’t want to pass laws that also won’t prevent all shootings.
The simple question on the cop in schools question is answered with this: If you knew with certainty that tomorrow your child’s, grandchild’s, niece’s, nephew’s, school was going to be attacked by a school shooter, would you want one police office there? Two? Three? Ten?
The answer is yes.
I challenge anyone to answer no and make a cogent argument.
Some countries charge more for families w/o kids than families w/ kids for things like public swimming pool memberships.