Standing Up To Keep Schools SAFE

Press Release

By: Tom Reed

Dear Neighbor,

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. We continue to pray for the Parkland community and will never forget the 17 lives lost on that tragic day.

There are few things more important than providing a safe and secure learning environment for our children.

That's why we're committed to ensuring that school districts have the resources they need to keep our schools as safe as possible.

This week we reintroduced a bill that will increase the funds available to hire School Resource Officers by allowing grant funding to be used to pay their salaries and benefits.

According to the National Association of School Resource Officers, since SRO programs expanded in the early 2000s, juvenile arrests declined 17 percent, the violent crime index fell 13 percent and other assaults, vandalism, weapons, drug and DUI offenses dropped off as well. Each school deserves to have fair access to School Resource Officers to help protect the children we all care about and to maintain a safe environment for them to flourish.

Investing in more School Resource Officers is an important first step to school safety -- and we proud to fight for that first step.

Source