A coalition of Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, the Prosecuting Attorney Association of Michigan and the professional educational community have agreed to move its proposal for school safety forward to the state legislature, according to Blaine Koops, former sheriff of Allegan County.
“Currently, there are 32 pieces of legislation on guns/safety in school. Rather than confronting all 32 pieces of legislation, our coalition of law enforcement, school officials and school mental health professionals have agreed on the legislation we will support,” Koops said.
“School shootings and bomb threats dominate the headlines. Violence is followed by mourning, outrage, and calls for reform–time and again, the cycle repeats itself without any meaningful change.
“Michigan sheriffs, police, prosecutors, and school leaders agree– enough is enough. It’s time for change. The Michigan School Safety Reform Plan protects Michigan students and makes our schools safer,” Koops said.
The following is from a news release explaining the coalition’s school safety reform plan:
More “School Resource Officers” – sheriffs and police – in our schools. Michigan’s men and women in uniform dedicate their lives to keeping our communities safe. In an emergency or a shooting situation they’re our children’s best hope. It’s time to give schools increased protection by police.
• The Michigan Student Safety Reform Plan creates a grant program to empower school districts to contract with local sheriff or police agencies for new and additional school resource
officers (SROs).
• Putting more sheriffs and police on school property and in school buildings will keep our children safer – and help prevent tragedies before they happen.
More school mental health professionals to identify problems early. School shooters often show signs of trouble long before an attack. School counselors and mental health professionals are the first line of aid and defense.
• Placing additional counselors and mental health professionals in our schools is a critical step in identifying and helping troubled students before it’s too late.
• The Michigan Student Safety Reform Plan gives school districts access to funding to hire additional school mental health professionals increasing the ratio of mental health professionals to students in districts statewide.
Safer Buildings for Students and Teachers.
Protecting students requires being proactive in securing school buildings.
• The reform plan requires a walk through by law enforcement officers of every school building in the state to identify safety issues and opportunities to harden schools against threats.
• Schools can use the results to apply for emergency funding to address safety liabilities.
Mandatory reporting, tougher penalties to stop shootings
before they happen. Reporting threats to law enforcement can stop tragedies before they happen, but too often threats and troubled students fall through the cracks.
• It’s time for mandatory reporting of threats against schools to law enforcement.
• A new graduated penalty range is needed for those who threaten schools and students to make reporting more likely and effective.
• Finally, let’s provide the ability to mandate mental health evaluations for every individual making a threat to better provide options for intervention and treatment.
