First: Overall, I agree with the
intent of OPs points some key school personnel
could have access to a firearm.
To succeed, however, I strongly believe that law enforcement's key leadership role as first responder and all the justice-related stuff that goes with that
must remain intact.
But first, Ill play out the reel, so to speak, on OPs reasoning (quoted below).
1. Correct. Generally. People tend to overestimate skill and underestimate threat during highly emotional/stressful scenarios. For example, during an active shooter event.
2. Protecting a home from an intruder and engaging in one-on-one armed combat to best protect 3,000 students from high-octane firepower are completely unrelated scenarios. Its dangerous to conflate the two. IMO
3. Logically, a teacher volunteer becomes the first responder trumping law enforcement just by being there. That puts fantasy land-levels of expectation and accountability onto a teacher, regardless of how confident or competent they are.
4. And probably most important: They aren't law enforcement officers. Period. From a law enforcement perspective, No. 3 (above) creates a cascade of justice-related failures in protocol, leadership, evidence, etc., all the way through the courts. Cases would not be prosecutable. Killers walk. Kiss justice goodbye!
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Jumping off that, how about:
1. A qualified adult in a school could receive requisite training and ability to aid police and first responders, under law enforcement direction.
2. Create a resource pool a contact list of trained, qualified citizen volunteers within a school from which LE can communicate and/or work with in some capacity under law enforcements discretion and direction only.
3. That way, laws, protocols, chains of command, evidence everything are preserved. That restricts the volunteer from inadvertently inheriting (or interfering with) law enforcements critical "first responder" role.
4. SOLUTION? A quasi "deputy" program in which a qualified civilian volunteer at a school who meets training and experience requirements works with a law enforcement agency if/when specifically directed to do so by the relative law enforcement agency.
5. School districts and law enforcement agencies, like Broward County and Parkland, work this solution into their emergency response plans. It becomes a template of sorts that other districts can tweak and implement if they so choose.
This seems like a more realistic and justice- and safety-oriented scenario to me.
This is not THE solution, but part of one, imo.
Whatcha think, WS peeps?
<3
