I am heartbroken, frustrated, and angry.
Heartbroken at the senseless, brutal murder of innocent children and their brave teachers.
Frustrated at our inability to come together and agree on effective, common sense proposals to prevent such a tragic catastrophe from ever happening again.
And angry with legislators and community leaders who still refuse to recognize the urgent need to professionally secure our schools.
Why are our children, our most precious resource and guardians of our future, treated as though they are less valuable than our money? Every Brink’s truck has two armed, well-trained guards safeguarding the cash while our schools, housing thousands of defenseless children, have a brigade of school safety officers armed with – cellphones.
I am not making light of such a serious topic, merely pointing out the ludicrousness of our current school security situation. After calling for backup, the school safety officer has no way to neutralize the threat a homicidal maniac poses to life until help finally arrives.
While comforting and well intentioned, these officers don’t stand a chance in the event of a sudden attack. By the time they call 911 and the police respond, violence and bloodshed will have, God forbid, already occurred.
Over a year ago I introduced two bills that would safeguard our schools and protect our children. One requires that a specially trained, armed police officer be stationed at the entrance of every school. His only duty would be to secure entry for teachers and students alike. This armed guard would serve the dual purpose of providing security and a sense of comfort to students and teachers while also serving as a highly visible, lethal deterrent to any terrorists, predators, and murderers.
My second legislative proposal requires all schools to conduct regular active shooter emergency drills. Schools have been practicing fire drills for years. When was the last time you heard of a tragic school fire? Our emergency response plans must be revised and updated to include and address these dire new threats.
In a letter to Mayor de Blasio dated June 6, 2017, I requested that he mandate both armed police guarding every school entrance and active shooter drills in all New York City schools. Unfortunately, I was denied. The primary reason given was that “it is an unwarranted expense and thus unnecessary.”
With tens of millions of dollars wasted annually on nonsense, why are we willing to sacrifice our precious children on the altar of austerity? Is this where we draw the line?
Who will tell a grieving parent that his or her child just wasn’t worth it?
If even one child’s life is saved, isn’t that reason enough?
Let’s face it. We have all lived to see with our own eyes the horrific devastation that terrorism, rampant evil, and wanton violence have created. To bury our heads in the sands of self-delusion is to play into the very hands of murderers and terrorists.
We must remain vigilant and err on the side of caution. Our children viscerally understand this and will appreciate our efforts and the security that armed guards provide.
The fact remains that there is no good argument against empowering our children and no good reason to breed a culture of fear around personal protection.
This latest tragedy highlights once again every reason why our legislature should be taking a cold, hard look at the measures we haven’t yet taken to keep our children safe in school.
We are all well intentioned, but we are failing and the price of failure is too high. If we fail to act now and even one more child is injured or worse, then by our very inaction we will be complicit in the crime.
To be clear, I am in no way finding fault with the administration of the Florida school or any other. They have suffered the worst tragedy imaginable and deserve all the support they will need to move forward. However, I am calling on all of us to make the necessary changes and improvements in school security and student/ personnel training and preparedness with utmost urgency…before the next teardrop falls.