More school security

Legislation that would allow CLEET-certified school personnel to act as special reserve school resource officers has been approved by the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

These volunteers from the schools would have a special, sworn, law enforcement status and would serve as armed security in their local schools and at school events.

House Bill 1062, developed by state Reps. Mark McCullough, R-Sapulpa; Sean Roberts, R-Hominy and Josh Cockroft, R-Tecumseh, passed the House by a 68-23 vote and advances to the state Senate.

“This legislation creates an option some schools may use to address safety concerns; it is not a mandate,” said McCullough, R-Sapulpa. “Schools without some form of security system in place leave themselves vulnerable to attacks and, as lawmakers, our job is to provide them with tools to keep their students safe.”

“There is nothing more important than protecting our children,” said Roberts, R-Hominy. “For districts that are unable to provide every school a resource officer, this gives them an option to provide security.”

House Bill 1062 provides that school boards would make the decision on whether or not to participate and who the volunteers would be. The certification would require a minimum of 120 hours of training to be specially developed by the Council for Law Enforcement Education and Training.

“This is not about guns in schools,” McCullough said. “It is about providing a serious response to potential violent threats that could develop in our schools such as we have seen in Connecticut and elsewhere. Our current policies leave our schools largely unprotected from violent threats and this must be remediated. This measure provides a workable solution to this obvious problem.”