School Safety

The recent school shooting in Florida has once again brought the issue of school safety to the forefront of the public discourse. It makes me sick to even use that phrase— “recent school shooting.” This phrase clearly indicates it has happened before and it certainly has–far too often. Once is an abomination. Now we have witnessed a number of these incidences. Has anything changed since Columbine? Not much.

So what do we do now? Many people, including elected officials, have offered opinions and ideas on how to prevent the next shooting. Today I read a story about various ideas from NYS leaders including the positioning of armed officers outside of schools on a regular basis. I can understand the position expressed by some that they do not want any guns introduced to their school. But, when we provide protection for government buildings, people attending large public events, buildings that house valuable items or people that hire private security, guns are typically part of the equation. Why not schools some will ask.

For the last few years, I have advocated strongly for a sharp increase in the amount of personnel working for the Sheriff. Sheriff Zurlo and the men and women of the department perform admirably in our municipalities each day. We need to always ensure our policing agencies have the adequate assets to keep our County safe. The County’s population has grown substantially, the drug epidemic is negatively affecting every community and effective patrolling in our communities is the greatest deterrent to any criminal activity. I have also advocated for an expansion of a satellite office system for the Sheriff’s Department. For many years, deputies have been stationed at the Clifton Park Center Mall in Town. This partnership between the County, Town and a private property owner has been a valuable asset to our community at very little cost. Clifton Park also provides free space for the NYS Police in the Town’s Public Safety Building. Similarly, Halfmoon currently provides space for deputies in their former town hall. The County should be allocating resources to foster similar partnerships in other areas of the County. This idea has a long successful track record. Why not begin to make changes utilizing an option that we know is effective?

Perhaps now is the time to consider involving interested schools systems into the equation. The satellite office network can still utilize areas like the Clifton Park Center and the town owned building in Halfmoon. Now we should consider expanding the network utilizing space on school property. A policing agency having an office on school property is a cost effective, efficient use of resources and a prudent first step in providing more security to protect our children. If we banned the sale of all guns tomorrow, will that stop the next shooting? We all believe swift action is needed. Let us start with this first step to the achieve the goal of providing protection for our children.