In the aftermath of last week's school shootings in Florida, the New York State Sheriff's Association is calling on lawmakers to include funding for at least one armed resource officer at every grade school and high school in the state.
"We owe it to our children, and their parents, to provide a safe place for education to take place," said Wayne County Sheriff Barry Virts, the Association's President.
It's an idea that appears to be gaining steam in some quarters. Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo has been contacted by three districts about the possibility of setting up such a system.
"It's my job to protect the students, to protect the staff, and to protect the teachers," Zurlo said. "If this something the schools want to look into, I'm all ears and listening to the proposals that they come up with."
Zurlo is not identifying the specific districts, and says talks are only in the preliminary stage at the moment.
His counterpart in Warren County, Bud York, has been pushing a similar idea for several years, and will meet with school officials in early March to talk about placing armed guards at school buildings.
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