Studies: Cops in schools do not decrease the risk of school shootings
In the wake of the George Floyd protests, many schools thought it was more trouble than it was worth to have armed police in their halls. More recently, many schools have entertained the idea of putting more police on campus in the wake of The Covenant School shooting.
Personally, I was of the opinion that it was basically a coin toss whether armed police on campus could prevent school shootings. Columbine High School had an armed officer who exchanged gunfire with one of the shooters. Tragically, 13 people still died. Red Lake High School in Minnesota had an armed guard. Tragically, the guard was one of the seven people killed.
Conversely, an armed SRO stopped a potential bloodbath at Socastee High School in South Carolina. An armed guard at STEM School Highlands Ranch in Colorado stopped one of the shooters even though a student died. Friendly fire from the guard did cause minor injuries to another student.
Then there were the shootings at Parkland and Uvalde, where armed officers flat-out refused to engage their respective shooters.
So, there’s no world where I believe that adding cops to schools is the be all and end all to stopping school shootings.
More recently, several studies have been published which say having armed officers on campus did not drastically reduce the threat of a school shooting.
A study published by the University of Albany stated not only did SROs not reduce the chance of a school shooting, but actually, though marginally, increased the chance of a school shooting. That study went on to say…
SROs “intensify the use of suspensions, expulsions, police referrals, and arrests of students.” The study also showed that armed officers could increase chronic absenteeism, “particularly for students with disabilities.”
The Journal of the American Medical Association said that the presence of armed officers often resulted in increased casualties. The JAMA study also said there is no correlation between having an armed officer at a school and the deterrence of gun violence.
Lastly, the Rand Corporation released a study which came to the conclusion that armed officers in schools tend to have no impact on the outcomes of school shootings.
Yet, the righteous defenders of the holy and venerated 2nd Amendment will keep pushing their agenda that to reduce gun violence in schools, schools need more guns. Besides, you know how they feel about science, with it being a Marxist plot and all.
This also gives politicians an out with them saying they’re trying to make schools safer, while still bending the knee to their NRA paymasters.
As I am fond of saying, the answer to gun violence in schools isn’t more guns, since that would be like trying to cure cancer with more cancer. That, and the fact that the gun nerds and ammosexuals won’t be happy until there are recurring John Wick-style shootouts in our schools.
Source: Studies show armed officers in schools may not stop school shootings
