Police better protection than rhymes in school shootings

When the next crazed gunman breaks into your local school, what would you rather have — some kindergarten teacher leading children in a lullaby, or an armed and trained resource officer standing outside the classroom door? No need to answer; it’s a no-brainer.

It is a good thing Gov. Charlie Baker signed the so-called “red flag” gun bill into law. This is the bill, filed by Rep. Marjorie Decker of Cambridge, and championed by House Speaker Robert DeLeo, that surfaced in the wake of the growing, horrendous problem of school shootings. It allows for the temporary confiscation of firearms from licensed holders considered dangerous, either to themselves or to others. Under the law, a family can petition the courts for an extreme risk protection order — a “red flag” — if a member with access to guns poses a threat. A judge can suspend the license and require the person to “temporarily” turn in his firearms until the situation is resolved.

Opponents of the law argued that the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding and licensed-gun owners are being infringed. Be that as it may, Baker signed it anyway, and it will probably be challenged in court. Who knows? Maybe the new law will do something good.

However, what would provide real protection for children in school is a bill languishing in committee that would allow cities and towns to hire retired cops as school resource officers. The bill was filed by Rep. James Arciero of Westford and is supported by Westford Police Chief Thomas McEnaney as well as Westford School Superintendent Everett Olsen. While Olsen and the others are not in favor of arming teachers, they are supportive of legislation allowing the cities and towns to hire local, well-trained retired police officers to serve as resource officers in the schools.

“These are individuals who have served in the community for years. They know the people, the neighborhoods, the schools and everything else. They are a valuable resource,” Arciero said. Westford is where a young school janitor recently was found with an unregistered handgun in the trunk of his car parked in the school parking lot. Authorities were notified about the situation after the man posted several comments on social media. If nothing else, the bill would be a refreshing antidote to the sad situation where a Somerville kindergarten teacher posted an advisory to the children in the form of a nursery rhyme over what to do in the event of a school lockdown. The lullaby went: “Lockdown, Lockdown,

Lock the door

Shut the lights off, say no more

Go behind the desk and hide.

Wait until it’s safe inside. Lockdown, Lockdown it’s all done

Now it’s time to have some fun.”

The teacher was rightly applauded for her concern and creativity. Lullabies are fine. But the children need more than nursery rhymes; they need protection. How much more reassuring to the children and their parents it would be if outside in the corridor was a familiar resource officer standing by to protect the children.

While police retirees are limited in the number of hours they can work in municipal or state government, the Arciero bill proposes that the resource officers that are hired be allowed to work for the entire 180day school year. Under his proposal, the people hired would not be compensated for any additional benefits, such as health care or pensions since they already are covered under their existing retirement plans.

Unfortunately, the bill is stuck in the Committee on Education and the legislative session is ending at the end of July. Senate Committee Chairwoman Sonia Chang-Diaz of Boston did not attend the hearing on the bill, and the committee has not reported the bill out for House or Senate debate. This did not stop the senator from speaking out on the “red flag” bill when it was passed by the Senate. But, she said, the Senate should also consider dealing with gun violence in general, unrelated to schools.

She said, “If all lives matter, we need more solutions that not only make our middle-class families feel safer, but that will actually decrease the number of shattering calls too many parents receive in our commonwealth.”

Chang-Diaz makes sense. But she could begin to end those “shattering calls” by getting her committee to release the bill instead of sitting on it. If she or the committee decline to take action, then Speaker DeLeo should get his majority members to force the bill out for House and Senate action.

Nursery rhymes are nice. Cops — even retired cops — are better.