NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Amid calls from some quarters for increased security measures on school campuses, Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle said yesterday that officers in schools act as a “deterrent” and an “alternative”, striking the right balance of police presence and avoiding becoming a police state where armed officers flood schools.
Last week, an 11th grade student at Government High School stabbed to death and another injured following an altercation with another two students on the campus.
The incident prompted fervent debate about whether there was sufficient security measures in schools, including police officers, with some parents suggesting the time had come for
“Police in the schools, they are more to, as a deterrent; as an alternative,” said Rolle, who appeared on the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s Cop Talk.
“That’s why we have all of these youth programs
“Again, if you look at my policing plan we have a lot of things that we do toward policing.”
He continued: “Do you want a police state or do you want your children to go to school where every classroom there is a police?
“Look, I went to El Savador, you go to the school and a police officer is standing at the gate with a shotgun slung across him. He has a rifle. You go into the administrative block and you have two police officers there with assault rifles and handguns.
“I am saying be careful what you ask for because our police officers they go on patrol they go to work and the law says that they are permitted to carry arms.”
Rolle said there are a combination of officers and security personnel on campuses, and where a school is identified as problematic, additional measures can be taken.
“The police officers are in school,” he said.
“We have programs in which officers assist the individuals in, and each school is also required to have security to be doing their scanning.
“I don’t know [if] that is what you want police officers doing.
“If there is a school that is identified as problematic, then we respond to that in kind.”
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