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Originally Posted by dobbles
But in many places like my high school they are regular officers assigned to the school. Officer Schwartz did several years as the school cop and then went on to being a detective. While he did indeed wear a different uniform so as to not look so out of place, he still had his badge, gun, and during holidays like independence day you would see him in uniform assisting the force when they needed bodies. You have more knowledge in this than I, I don't dispute that, but you seem to have this idea that these cops really are just mall rent a cops. And I find it hard to believe that I went to the one high school in America that had a real officer. Heck I graduated just weeks after columbine, so I was in school for a relatively calm era up until the very end.
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No, I don't hold that view. Did I say they didn't have a gun and a badge? Nope. What I did say is this assignment is very different, and that some states allow for very different hiring practices to fill this role. Not all of them are patrol cops. You'll usually find a cop who was forced off the street due to injury end up in a SRO role. They are still valuable to the force as a deterrent, but not someone you're going to expect to respond to a call out. Mostly because they are not prepped for such duties. What they are missing is all of the other equipment that a patrol officer wears and carries. Not having that body armor on is a big thing. Not having access to that shot gun or AR in the trunk is a big thing. Not having access to that ballistic helmet and other protective equipment is a big thing.
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I guess what I still don't grasp is this...
I'm at a business. Someone comes in and starts shooting. I call 911. Officers respond. And while they may have to take a defensive type position, they still respond. They don't say "sorry guys we are busy with this speeding ticket, so we can't respond." Yet if that same situation happens at a school that already has an officer on site, that's the response you are advocating.
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You get officers assigned to a specific beat. You don't get detectives arriving for the call. You don't get SROs arriving at the call. You get beat patrol officers. They have very specific roles they are expected to follow. They assume those defensive positions to assess the situation and make a determination if a specialized assignment is required. Once that determination is made, and the specialization arrives, those officers are there in strictly a support role.
And no, I am not advocating anything. I am explaining to you the way most departments work. I'm also explaining why an officer may not go rushing into an engagement and may instead do the smart thing and wait for proper support, regardless of the situation. One thing that is for certain, a SRO is no match for a shooter with an assault rifle and high capacity magazines. Was he right, or was he wrong, I don't know. I don't know whether he would have made a lick of difference rushing in there, but past experience tells me it would have added to the mayhem and resulted in likely more death.