Back on January 22, the Baltimore School Board voted unanimously to forbid Baltimore School Police officers from carrying weapons. Of course, what could possibly go wrong with that kind of misguided thinking, right? After all, the Baltimore Schools CEO Sonja Santelises proudly proclaims that “confrontation and weapons have no place” in her schools.
Somehow, though, wishful thinking and magic symbols didn’t keep confrontation or guns out of Baltimore schools. Not even a month later, a family member of a student walked into a Baltimore public school and shot a special education assistant.
Gunfire erupted Friday in the lobby of Frederick Douglass High School in Baltimore, a rare incident inside city schools, leaving a 56-year-old staff member seriously injured and a 25-year-old man in police custody.
Neil Davis entered the school shortly after noon and shot a special education assistant, police said. The staff member, identified by district officials as Michael Marks, was in serious but stable condition Saturday and undergoing treatment at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center. The alleged shooter is a family member of a Douglass student, police said.
Meanwhile, the “Charm City” school cops had nothing to use against the attacker except charm, stern warnings and harsh language.
Following the violent incident at one of their schools, the Baltimore School Board has found religion. They voted to reverse their earlier unanimous support of disarmed police and voted 8-2 to allow their cops to carry after all.
The only question lefty is why two of the board’s members still believe that cops should remain disarmed.
From the Baltimore Sun:
Two weeks after a shooting in a Baltimore high school, the city’s school board reversed its position on whether school police should be allowed to carry weapons, voting 8-2 in support of legislation that would amend state law to authorize officers to patrol schools with guns.
The board’s decision comes a month after the 10 members voted unanimously against the idea of arming school police officers. The dramatic shift could provide a needed boost to state Del. Cheryl Glenn’s proposed legislation in Annapolis. Even if the board hadn’t thrown its support behind the bill, Glenn had said she would’ve continued to push for change after the recent shooting at Frederick Douglass High School.
Neil Davis, a 25-year-old family member of a student, came into Douglass on Feb. 8 and shot special education assistant Michael Marks, according to police. The 56-year-old longtime staffer was seriously injured but survived.
Wishful thinking and magic spells won’t stop bad people intent on hurting innocents.
The only thing that stops bad guys with evil in their hearts is a good guy with a gun. Even in Charm City, USA.
Would love to see a statement from the 6 that changed their mind that explains how the entirely predictable result had to happen before they pulled their heads out.
People this stupid are in charge of the education system in Baltimore; whodathunkit?
reality meets idealism…idealism loses….
“People this stupid are in charge of the education system in Baltimore.”
ONLY in Baltimore? They’re in charge of education systems everywhere in the US. If you don’t live in Baltimore, check your school board out. There are a few rational ones, but most are woke.
You can still bet that the rules of engagement between a school cop and a young teen with a gun are different between cops and adults(or older teens) with guns. At least we can hope that the rules include helping any children under fire before thinking about their own safety – you know, to protect and serve.
Houston “we have found intelligent life in Baltimore maryland”. “It is very young and fragile”. “Not sure it can survive”.
“It may still be given a post birth abortion by the natives there”. We will continue to observe at a distinct safe distance.
One word, “GOOD”!
Sad thing is most schools in the United States are still gun free! What good does it do to have a School Police Officer with their hands tied! (You bad person you can’t have that gun in here because we are a gun free Zone!) Wake up people this in the real world where you have Idiots. These Idiots feel safe because they can’t be shot back at because it is a GUN FREE ZONE!
This is not a gun problem! This is a Idiot problem! 250 million guns in the United States which has never shot anyone! But there are a few Idiots that have! But still more people killed with Hammer than guns. More people killed with knifes than guns. More people killed with the Cell Phone than guns! Just keep texting and driving!
“The only question left is why two of the board’s members still believe that cops should remain disarmed.”
As the saying goes: you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it think. They’re either mind-numbed ideologs or they’re too stupid to use new data to form their opinions.
You can’t teach common sense either.
“Stop! Or I shall yell stop again!”
Ha ha, exactly what I was thinking! Very old joke, what do British cops do when they are chasing a criminal?”
That’s a common misconception. I lived in the UK, British cops have ready access to MP5s and tactical gear when they need them. I remember sitting in outside of a pub enjoying a pint watching two bobbies standing on a corner when one got a radio call. They disappeared for no more than two minutes and when they appeared back to where they were standing they were accompanied by two more officers and all four were in complete tactical gear and body armour with full auto sub-machine guns at the ready. The English know how to keep up appearances and still be ready for a fight in an instant.
That guy in the back ground in the grey shirt is huge, maybe he’s standing on a box? 8 ft ceiling and his head just about touches it. Maybe he’s the reason for the children’s forced smile, “Yay a Cops in the hall, and a Sheriff too, yay.” ,. no Smoking in The BoyzRoom today.
I wouldn’t trust sworn police officers in schools, as their first “duty” is to themselves.
You see, “officer safety” trumps “courage under fire” almost all of the time, but especially with “school resource officers” and police officers in general. It seems that for almost every police officer, making it to a cushy retirement is the ultimate goal, the protection of the public be damned. Add to that, observe the many unjustified shootings by police that get “covered up” by police-friendly prosecutors and grand juries.
All one has to do is look at the (in)action of the police officers during the last number of mass school shootings, where these “trained professionals” SAT ON THEIR HANDS while the carnage was going on.
You can bet that us military veterans in such a case would be drawn TOWARD the sound of gunfire. If I had my way, I would arm teachers who wish to be armed, and would hire military veterans as school support personnel such as janitors and maintenance personnel. Janitorial and maintenance personnel have the run of the school buildings and would make an effective “reactionary force”. Us veterans would be much more effective than police, (who are only concerned about their own “safety”), as us veterans are trained to go towards the sound of gunfire and “solve the problem”.
Today’s human nature dictates that the person with all of the “training” (especially) law enforcement DOES cower in fear, while a 90 lb. armed teacher would reluctantly, but successfully take out the shooter. Being forced into a situation also forces one to act.
There are many examples of persons, who one would normally think, would not be capable of acting in an extremely high-stress situation, but DO come out on top-stopping the threat, and saving lives.
Sad to say, today’s police practices dictate that the cop’s life is MORE IMPORTANT than that of those he has sworn to protect despite the cops having statutory protections that do not apply to us ordinary civilians.
All one has to do is look at Medal of Honor recipients, who are almost always mild-mannered, initially reluctant to act, but DO act, and perform feats who most would think are normally beyond their capacity and capabilities TRUE bravery in the heat of battle. The same applies to those civilians who act during school shootings.
Human nature has a habit of propelling (actually forcing) the normal, average person into a true hero and life saver, while showing the true (cowardly behavior) nature of those we assign to protect us. A good example of our protectors cowering in fear is the deputies who FAILED TO ACT despite having all of the equipment necessary and the preferential laws on their side (that protect them from lawsuits and liability).
TRUE heroes ACT, while our so-called protectors (failed to) REACT.
Too broad an anecdote filled brush my friend. Yes, law enforcement is not required to do anything they consider dangerous to themselves, and that is an important point when discussing the everyone’s right to self protection such as with firearms.
And yes it is important to note the clusterfuk of incompetent leadership and some cowardice that resulted in the high death rate at Parkland.
But lots of cops, most, are quite competent, including most school SROs. As far as combat veterans, they are over-represented in police ranks
After Newton, when the NRA advanced the idea of more armed trained personnel in schools, Obama and the left openly scoffed.But this was one of the things he turned around on because he could not refute the the data. In fact schools with trained armed personnel are safer — of you compare similar crime rate conjurations. Early comparisons did not take into account background crime rates, and falsely found no increased safety from armed trained personnel.This, because they were comparing 90201 type schools with no armed personnel or armed SROs to schools that were in virtual war zones of crime.
Fact is in a given situation an SRO many not be able to stop a school shooter, but the data show they do reduce homicide, aggravated assault, assault, sexual assault and robberies in schools when you compare similar schools with and without them.
“After Newton, when the NRA advanced the idea of more armed trained personnel in schools, Obama and the left openly scoffed.”
Why “his” were being protected with full autos carried by taxpayer funded security and it didn’t bother him at all.
It just bothered him that the lowly debt slaves dared to want guns to protect their own children from democrats.
I don’t disagree at all with your point my friend.
I am just saying while we need to keep systemic incompetence and corruption and by law enforcement leadership and occasional outright cowardice by some cops in mind when arguing and asserting our 2A rights, and clearly beneficial recommendations by the NRA on how bad GFZ are, to keep ourselves and children safer, that the broad bush on cops’ actions by the OP are too broad.
gotta’ believe parkland is not atypical…and that is born out by the numbers of cops willing to bore-in….regardless of their personal safety…which is evidenced by the number of them who have been shot trying to carry out their sworn duty…
Not atypical means typical, so you are saying Parkland was a typical response.
If I was a police officer I would refuse to work without a duty weapon.. and the police Union should file suit against the city for even considering it..
I don’t think cops should be armed at all. Ever. If they need someone with a gun, let them call a constitutional carrier.
So cops don’t have constitutional rights?
The cops who can’t qualify for a carry license would be at a disadvantage.
They changed their minds because now they can be sued !
That is a super-magic sign. Both guns and drugs. There must be piles of both from those that voluntarily removed their before proceeding into school.
Oh…wait…
Well, now that someone on staff got hurt, it’s time for armed protectors.
… in case it was unclear who schools are for.
“Guns and violence have no place in schools.”
Great. Now what do you do when some person who disagrees with you brings violence n even arms into yr school?
I know. It is just amazing how specious the arguments of the gun grabbers are. The very lowest estimates of crimes prevented by gun owners are all higher than crimes committed with guns.
The rational objective person knows guns reduce violence, but he gun crabbers totemize and fetishize guns and equate them with violence, when they are by all measures a violence deterrent
Shocking no one with a working brain, some people are unpersuaded by yr opinion of what has a place in achools, no matter how many votes you take.
Idiots….
I saw that story about no armed protectors in Baltimors schools and I just laughed.
Of course the school police had to call the police when a gunman showed up.
Here in Florida we passed the opposite law.
Now every school is required to have an armed protector.
They can be police, non classroom school employees or private security.
The complete school board and the CEO needs to step down immediately. The individual who was shot should sue each and every one of the school board members. This won’t change what happened but it will send a shock wave across the country and no other school board will even entertain such a ridiculous notion!
Baltimore is like Mogadishu if Mogadishu had strict gun control…in other words, no change.
over 90% of all mass shootings occur in “gun free zones”…if only criminals would obey the signs.
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