Maryland Legislators Seeks To Reintroduce Bill Arming School Officers
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — The shooting at Frederick Douglass High School this month put a bill to have City School Police carrying weapons in school buildings back in play.
On Feb. 8, an armed intruder wounded a staff member and was caught by school police supervisors who happened to be in the school at the time.
"If they were not here and our unarmed police officer would have had to confront this gunman, what would we have had?" asked School Police FOP president, Clyde Boatwright.
Baltimore City School Police, armed while on patrol outside school buildings, are required to store their weapons in a safe place when inside school buildings.
A bill in the General Assembly to keep them armed in school was voted down by the school board in January.
Given the board's opposition the bill's sponsor delegate Cheryl Glenn withdrew it.
Then came the shooting at Douglass high.
Delegate Glenn re-introduced the bill Wednesday.
"These are police officers, they're not security guards," she said. "They have training. So it's tantamount to calling 911 for a Baltimore City police officer and then telling them, oh you have to check your weapon at the desk."
There is also a bill sponsored by Senate minority leader J.B. Jennings requiring school officers to be armed in districts statewide.
Jennings told WJZ he was working on his bill before the shooting at Douglass High School.
"I don't care who gets credit for passing it," he said. "Whether we use my bill or delegate Glenn's bill I just think every police officer should have a weapon with them when they're in school protecting children," said Jennings.
He introduced a similar bill last year.
The school board is expected to take up the issue at its next board meeting Feb. 26.
But regardless of the board's position, delegate Glenn said that the city delegation is elected to make decisions for the city of Baltimore. The school board is not.
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