Many police officers were surprised to find that not only the armed school resource officer but 3 other Broward County sheriff’s deputies were outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during the shooting crisis and hadn’t entered, sources tell CNN https://t.co/wTZKYXlBlc pic.twitter.com/hSckUZWzS8
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 23, 2018
I’m not going to pretend to know what combination of solutions is necessary to fix this crisis. And it is most certainly a crisis in every sense of the word. I will say there is overwhelming evidence, like the above, that the “let’s just arm the teachers!” argument is bullshit.
If that is the solution, then no more half-measures. Let’s have the full militarization of our schools and public places. Blockades and security checkpoints; student and faculty background checks; random searches; roving security patrols; full SIGINT. We’ll also need to develop HUMINT in the classrooms, probably starting around 2nd grade.
That is the logical conclusion to the “arm the teachers” argument. And it is a bullshit fallacy which makes us no safer. As the military and other protective services frequently demonstrate, arms and training are not enough to prevent tragedy. Not when the attacker can be anyone at any time.