Armed officers should be in all schools, New York State Sheriffs say

Albany, N.Y. (WHAM) - At least one armed school resource officer should be at every grade school and high school in New York.

That was the call lifted up by the New York State Sheriffs’ Association on Thursday as it requested the State Legislature include funding in the 2018 State Budget. The Association estimated it would cost roughly the same as adding one more teacher to each school.

“This will be an expensive undertaking,” said Wayne County Sheriff Barry Virts, President of the New York State Sheriffs’ Association. “But we owe it to our children, and their parents, to provide a safe place for education to take place.”

There are roughly 4,750 public schools and nearly 2,000 private schools in New York.

“The relationship of trust formed with the students often allows the SRO to gain critical timely information and intervene before an issue becomes an incident,” Sheriff Virts said.

This is a similar call to one issued by New York State Assemblyman Patrick Gallivan (R-C-I, Elma) earlier this week.