Armed Vs. Unarmed School Security Options Discussed In Hillsborough
HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — School security remains a hot topic across the country with shootings and threats – including a recent rumor of a threat at Hillsborough Middle School.
The Hillsborough School district recently took steps to increase security by hiring former Randolph Police Chief David Stokoe as Coordinator of School Security Operations along with nine new security officers in January.
Discussions on ways to enhance security of schools are ongoing among Board of Education members.
Find out what's happening in Hillsboroughwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
At the Sept. 23 Board of Education meeting, Board President Paul Marini said the Governance Committee had a “very thorough but not complete discussion” with Stokoe around whether the district’s school security staff should be armed or unarmed.
“He did a very – given the amount of time we had – detailed description of pros and cons, risks, costs associated with armed versus unarmed,” said Marini. “By no means is it the end of our discussion but I think it was a very good, well-prepared conversation.”
Find out what's happening in Hillsboroughwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Superintendent Mike Volpe told Patch that discussions on armed versus unarmed security staff began last year the Board was formulating the referendum question for a security staff.
“Several Board of Education members expressed interest in ongoing discussions about whether our school security staff should be armed. At the time, I recommended maintaining an unarmed staff, given my lack of expertise in this area and the potential for future guidance from a qualified professional,” said Volpe.
Following the hiring of Stokoe, who Volpe noted has extensive firearms experience, Volpe said “he felt confident in his ability to facilitate this conversation with a committee of the Board, since now he has several months of experience in our schools.”
Following the presentation and based on Stokoe’s expertise, “he recommended maintaining the status quo at this time, meaning our security staff should remain unarmed.”
The committee concluded that if the Board wishes to revisit this conversation in the future, Stokoe would be happy to provide further insights and guidance.
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