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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | April 3, 2023 03:51 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Mike Regan |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Armed School Security |
| Ten years ago, as a member of the House of Representatives, I introduced my first piece of school safety legislation. I was brand new to the legislature, and my proposal came in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The goal of that legislation was to ensure the presence of at least one armed security officer at each school building. Now, ten years later, after hundreds of more shootings on school campuses, we have witnessed yet another tragedy, now in Nashville, where three young children and three adults were senselessly killed because an individual with mental health problems was able to gain access to a school building. I will be introducing legislation that aims to enhance the protection of our children by implementing a security presence in all publicly funded schools. This presence will consist of at least one armed, trained, and vetted school security officer, which may be either a School Police Officer, School Resource Officer, or School Security Guard as defined in the Education Code. School safety personnel will undergo background investigations, be required to maintain certification, and be annually certified in position-specific training. My perspective on this issue comes from my law enforcement career, in which part of my responsibilities was to secure federal courthouses. I have also relied on other credentialed experts in the field of school and building security as I crafted legislative proposals over the years, and they have all said with uniformity that the hiring of trained and vetted armed officers should be every school’s first step when implementing security measures. But still, many have not. The time has come for all to recognize that this is a must in today’s world. Please join me in co-sponsoring this very important piece of legislation. |
Introduced as SB907