Before we try to hire more police for schools, look at how poorly Uvalde chief did his job
An extraordinary new interview with the Uvalde school district’s police chief, Pete Arredondo, answers some lingering questions about how the May 24 massacre raged on for so long.
It highlights a problem that will plague all of our potential solutions: human fallibility.
And it shows that getting enough security in schools will be difficult and expensive.
Arredondo told the Texas Tribune several mind-boggling facts about his response. First, he ditched his radio as he went into the school to try to intercept the shooter, so he never knew crucial details from children who were calling 911. Second, he didn’t consider himself the on-site commander, even though he’s the chief of the department with jurisdiction.
Third, he had to wait for sets of keys to be delivered and try dozens before officers could open the door and confront the shooter.
Oh, and the door was reinforced — no doubt to protect from an invader — and couldn’t be kicked or rammed in. The law of unintended consequences always extracts its costs.
With hindsight, of course, we see solutions, such as making sure district police have master keys. It’s easy to chalk up Arredondo’s decisions to incompetence, fear or both.
We need more and better police, right? There are more than 1,200 school districts and charter schools in Texas, with more than 8,800 campuses. There are more than 130,000 elementary and secondary schools in the U.S.
Where would we get good officers to staff them all? How would a small district like Uvalde compete in salary and prestige?
Where will the money come from? Texans are already balking at their gargantuan school property tax bills. A hiring surge isn’t going to be cheap.
The Fort Worth City Council discussed these issues this week because the police department provides resource officers to middle schools and high schools in several districts, including Fort Worth ISD. The city would need to add 200 officers to also serve elementary schools, a department official told the council.
Keep in mind that departments are already having trouble hiring and retaining officers.
The easy thing to say is that any cost is worth it to save children’s lives. But governing is choosing. More must be done, but before we plow ahead with adding tens of thousands of cops nationwide, we better consider whether we can screen, train and equip them.
Otherwise, we’re going to end up with a lot more Pete Arredondos.
Editor’s note: A version of this column originally appeared in our conservative opinion newsletter, Right Turns. It’s delivered every Saturday with a fresh take on the news and a roundup of our best center-right opinion content. Sign up here.
