Proposal to increase the number of resource officers at local schools draws mixed reaction

BARNSTABLE, Mass. — As parents get ready to send their children back to school, it’s hard not to think of some of the tragic attacks on schools that dominated the headlines last year.

Who can forget the horrifying images of an armed man roaming the halls of Robb Elementary school in Uvalde Texas?

It raises a big question of how we keep our kids safe.

State representative Steven Xiarhos (R-5th Barnstable district) has filed a bill to get more police officers in Massachusetts’ schools.

“Our kids and our educators mean everything to us and when these tragedies happen, we’re all heartbroken,” said Xiarhos.

Xiarhos started his career as a policer officer and spent many years as a school resource officer.

He thinks those types of officers make schools much safer. “You’re breaking down barriers between police and kids and teachers and you automatically know when something is good or wrong and that’s very special.”

The bill Xiarhos filed would allow local districts to mandate officers in all their schools, from elementary on up.

Districts could also add more security to their facilities, so-called hardening, and get help from the state to pay for it.

Finally, additional safety training would be provided for police, teachers, and students.

Xiarhos compares having a police officer in a school to having a nurse. “That doesn’t mean everybody’s sick. It’s someone that’s there when you need them.”

After the 1999 mass shooting in Columbine, Colorado, the number of police officers in schools soared as the federal government helped fund these programs.

Melissa Morobito, a professor of criminal justice at UMass-Lowell, thinks the results of placing armed officers in schools has been mixed.

One adverse effect, she explained, is smaller infractions that might have been handled by school officers now are more likely to end up in the criminal justice system.

“We know in some states that having more police officers in schools means more kids are involved in court, that they’re having more charges, and we know that being involved in the criminal justice system has really negative consequences for youth,” Morobito said.

A growing distrust of police in urban communities, after high-profile cases like the murder of George Floyd, is creating a deep divide and raising questions about the value of putting uniformed police in schools.

We asked some local high school students what they think of the idea.

One young man said, “I think it’s a great idea because you never know what can happen and the response of the police is early, and you definitely need security whether they’re armed or not.”

Another student believes “having police in schools would make a really uncomfortable situation with a lot of minorities. . .and being around them all the time makes me anxious, and I would prefer not to be around a school with police officers.”

A third student thinks it’s a great idea but has pros and cons.

Professor Morobito says the mental health crisis is a growing factor behind school emergencies. She believes it would be wiser to allocate additional resources in that area, rather than just putting more police officers in school.

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