by Baltimore City Schools are the ultimate gun-free zones. Not even the cops are allowed to have firearms!
Baltimore City Schools are (somewhat) protected by the Baltimore City School Police. This agency consists of 141 sworn and armed officers. It is the only police agency in the state of Maryland dedicated to protecting a school district. They are also the only cops not allowed to be armed inside the schools while students are present. Somehow the logic of this escapes me.
According to the Baltimore Sun, the city’s delegation to the Maryland legislature had introduced bills in the Maryland House of Delegates and Senate to allow the school police to carry within the schools. This was done at the urging of the school board. It also had the support of a majority of members of both the police and teachers union.
However, these bills were tabled because the delegation couldn’t come to a consensus on arming the cops. It seems some parents wanted their kids to be even larger targets for murderous psychopaths and there were delegates that agreed with them.
Others contended that weapons would make students feel like criminals in a city where many need a reprieve from the presence of guns.
Parents and state lawmakers said they believed the issue needed to be explored and vetted further.
Aimee Harmon-Darrow, a city school parent, helped launch a petition calling for the withdrawal of the legislation until it was publicly debated. The petition had more than 1,740 signatures Friday.
Harmon-Darrow said the legislation was a “catalyst to a dialogue that needs to happen in Baltimore City regarding the role of school police, discipline policies and overall school climate issues.”
“I hope the school board recognizes the need for this discussion and engages parents in an open dialogue.“
Why do I have the feeling that if any harm came to these school children as a result of psychopath that Ms. Harmon-Darrow would be the first to cry out that the schools didn’t do enough to protect her children.
Research done by Dr. Eric Dietz at the Purdue Homeland Security Institute shows that an armed school resource officer cuts casualties by two-thirds in an active shooter situation. However in a case like this, “feelings” trump reason, logic, and scientific evidence.
I just feel sorry for the majority of the parents of school children in Baltimore that their kids are at a greater risk because some politicians would rather listen to blithering idiots than to them. They should remember these politicians come 2016.