COLUMBIA, SC (AP) – South Carolina’s top law enforcement officer says arming the state’s teachers “is not the answer” to making schools safer.
State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel told a Senate panel Tuesday that he feels teachers should be focused on teaching, not weapons training. Keel also says he feels the presence of school resource officers is the best way to keep students safe.
“Arming teachers is not the answer,” Chief Keel said to the panel. “It’s not the answer from law enforcement’s standpoint. From teachers, administrators I’ve talked to, that’s not the answer that they’re looking for. You know, that was my stance in 2013 and I’ve not seen anything that makes me change my mind about that.”
Chief Keel also stressed the importance of constructing schools with only one point of entry and securing schools under renovation.
Gov. Henry McMaster said at a school safety summit last week that he wants an armed officer in every school before he would consider arming teachers. The state Education Department says it could cost up to $60 million to put a trained, armed police officer in every South Carolina elementary, middle and high school.
