Mesa schools work to beef up security with new fences, other measures

5 comments:

• downtownresident posted at 8:07 am on Sun, Feb 17, 2013.

  Posts: 771

  Not sure how a wrought iron fence gives more security than chain link?
  It'll make some contractors rich, though. How is a 6 foot high iron fence more secure that 6 feet of chain link?
  You can climb over or shoot through either one, so, leave the chain link fences in place and be reasonable.
  If someone's intent on doing harm,a fence won't stop them!

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• ConservAZtive posted at 10:22 am on Sun, Feb 17, 2013.

  Posts: 3

  Why don't we start by getting rid of the politically correct jargon and misdirection. What the heck is a "School Resource Officer?" Someone who helps with homework? A person that provides construction paper and glue for projects? It doesn't exactly strike fear into the hears of the bad guy with a gun... or the kid thinking about bringing a weapon to school! How about calling them armed police officers... or maybe armed security specialists... or perhaps good guy with a gun? Let's get serious by letting people know we are serious. It won't work if we can't at least start by calling it what it is!!!

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• carin1029 posted at 10:53 am on Sun, Feb 17, 2013.

  Posts: 3

  A school resource officer is a sworn police officer assigned to a particular school. That means they are armed, and changing what you call them won't make any difference in that. Police are only supposed to be scary to those who have done something wrong. Kids need to be able to feel safe going to the SRO to provide information about fights, weapons, drugs, etc. A good part of the job is being accessible to the students on campus. Giving them some scary name won't make them more effective in stopping bad guys, but it might make them less effective in protecting the people they're there to protect.

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• k33j88 posted at 4:59 am on Mon, Feb 18, 2013.

  Posts: 607

  There was a time, in the not-so-distant past, when a student could learn responsible gun ownership through a program called------a "rifle club". This program was offered, even encouraged, to remove the mystery and fear now being taught to our youth. We never had a cop at school, there were not any shootings, then again, food stamps were not considered a badge of honor.

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• amymacfever69 posted at 9:06 am on Mon, Feb 18, 2013.

  Posts: 1

  At my daughter's elementary school in East Mesa (and the Jr High AND high school), the front doors to the schools are never locked and there are classrooms that are in the front of the school. My daughter had a class in one of the front classrooms and the door was never locked and most of the time, it was propped open. When we lived in Elk Grove, IL, EVERY SINGLE SCHOOL in the district, whether it was an elementary school, Jr. High or high school, there was a security foyer. Once inside the foyer, you had to buzz the front desk, state your name, child's name, child's teacher and reason for being there. When I was a mom going there several times a week, it was a nuisance but now I look back and think that the extra security measure was appropriate. Also, every single door was locked from the outside and every single teacher and aid had to have a badge that needed to be swiped, along with a passcode (in case it was lost or stole) to enter ANY door in the school. It wouldn't take that much to install the same security measures in all schools. Makes more sense than replacing chain link fences with wrought iron.

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