Marlboro Township New Jersey will assign an armed police officer to patrol each of its nine public schools starting when the kids come back on January 2.
In the aftermath of the Newtown, Connecticut shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School , Marlboro is reportedly the fist school district in the country to reach this decision about stationing permanent armed school guards.
Town officials apparently made this determination before the National Rifle Association (NRA) came out with its controversial school shield program to place armed guards at each school in the country.
Mayor Jonathan Hornik of Marlboro Township explained the new security measures to the New York Post :
“We’ve made a collective decision as a town that we need armed security in each of our schools.
“With this new evil, you can’t just sit there and hope that it doesn’t happen in your town. We must protect our kids.”
The town, which is located in Monmouth County and has a population of about 40,000, is also considering retrofitting school entrances with more secure doors and installing security cameras.
Mayor Hornik made his feelings about armed school security to protect school children clear to NBC 4 New York :
“Just like what happened on 9/11– air travel changed. In my opinion last Friday, school security changed, and you can sit by and hope that it doesn’t happen at your school or you can take action.”
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie , however, has expressed reservations about schools becoming an armed camp.
“This isn’t a luxury item. This is a necessity, based on what we saw happen in Connecticut,” the mayor insisted.
Do you agree or disagree with the town assigning an armed security guard to each of its schools?
