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After Deadly WI School Shooting, Police Chief Wants Officers Back

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After a Wisconsin school shooting last week left a teacher and two students dead, including the 15-year-old shooter, students marched to the state Capitol and said they feel unsafe in their own schools. A community group, SafeDane, has urged Madison school district leaders to return police officers to some of the city’s public schools as an added safety measure. “SafeDane calls on Madison schools to reinstate Security Resource Officers (SROs) in at least the high school,” said Dave Glomp, who leads the organization. While studies show school-based police officers reduce some violence on campuses, researchers from the University at Albany and the RAND Corporation found no conclusive evidence that armed officers prevent gun-related incidents or school shootings, reports the Cap Times. Even so, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes has advocated for returning officers to schools, calling such programs “one spoke in the wheel of public safety.”  

“I believe this is one of the things that we can use in order to keep schools safe,” he said. "As a former school teacher, as a former school resource officer, and as a police officer and parent, I will always support police officers being used effectively to keep kids safe. That hasn't changed, and it never will.”


In May, a school resource officer shot and killed a middle school student who came to the school with a pellet gun, according to Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne. At Abundant Life Christian School last week, law enforcement officers arrived three minutes after a teacher called 911 to report the shooting. The school did not have a resource officer, Barnes said. Over four years ago, the Madison School Board voted unanimously to end the district’s school-based police officer program. The Madison Metropolitan School District had officers stationed in its four comprehensive high schools for nearly two decades. The School Board’s decision came one month after police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd in Minneapolis, sparking a national push for greater police accountability. The Madison school district joined others across the country in eliminating school police programs from K-12 schools. A report published shortly after the board’s vote showed Madison school resource officers had disproportionately more interactions with Black students compared with their white peers. The findings mirror other studies showing that school-based policing increases disciplinary measures, particularly among Black students.

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