After the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, one North Carolina county has decided to take rather drastic measures to increase security at their schools.
“The time for action is now,” Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page said during a news conference at the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office. “I’m tired of seeing all the school violence and shootings in this country. These type of incidents can happen anywhere and anytime and you can’t predict an event, but we can prepare for these type of scenarios.”
After the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the 2013 School Safety Act, increasing funding panic alarms, and opening the door for armed volunteer school resource officers (SRO) programs.
The programs would give volunteers from the community with at least two years of experience in law enforcement or military policing full authority to carry a firearm, arrest people, and use deadly force in elementary, middle, and high schools across the county.
Rockingham County would become the first in North Carolina to establish one. The sheriff’s office hopes to have the program in place for the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year.
Do you think CMS should implement a similar program?