The public is sounding off on the issue of whether Baltimore school police officers should be armed during the school day, as state lawmakers consider whether to move forward with a bill in the Maryland legislature that would lift restrictions on when officers can carry their weapons.
The city school board held a hearing on the controversial bill Tuesday evening, where supporters and opponents faced off about whether the measure was necessary.
The city's teachers and the administrators union conducted a survey on the issue this week and reported that the majority of the educators who responded supported armed officers in schools. Both unions asked educators if they believed school police should carry guns.
Jimmy Gittings, president of the administrators union, said that of 128 principals who responded to the survey, 100 were in favor.
Gittings said he believed school police should be able to carry guns. "In the event of a life-threatening emergency, our school police must be able to protect students, staff and other school stakeholders," he said.
Those who were not in favor suggested that police be equipped with Tasers rather than guns, or that armed officers be staffed only in high schools for "justifiable" reasons.
Four principals testified during the hearing Tuesday, including three high school principals.
The principals said that the school police officers played a major role in managing the behavior and conflicts that spill over from the community, and their ability to respond to incidents in a meaningful way is critical.
Daric Jackson, principal of Reginald F. Lewis School of Business and Law High School, said that his school appreciates having officers who can respond instantly to an incident rather than waiting 10-15 minutes for city police.
"That's 10 to 15 lives I may lose," he said. "I cannot afford to have that happen."
Christopher Battaglia, principal of Benjamin Franklin High, suggested it was unfair that those expected to protect city students didn't have the same resources as officers in the county.
The city is the only school system in the state that has its own designated police force. County police officers work in schools, and are allowed to carry their weapons.
"Why would our students and families be deprived of the feeling of safety that our suburban counterparts have?" Battaglia asked.
The teachers' union's survey is open until Friday. Of teachers responding as of Tuesday, 67 percent were in favor of arming the officers, with the remaining 33 percent against it, officials said.
Current law allows the city school officers, who are assigned primarily to middle and high schools, to be armed only while patrolling the exterior of school buildings and before and after school hours. They cannot be armed while stationed inside schools during the day.
Despite the restrictions, city school police officials acknowledge that officers often carry weapons in school buildings anyway — essentially breaking the law — because they are constantly moving on and off school grounds.
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