Butler schools want to give guards more power
Six years after the Butler School District installed armed security guards in response to a horrific school shooting elsewhere, the district's policies are being codified and expanded by state law.
The Butler School Board voted Monday night to ask Butler County President Judge Thomas Doerr for a new school security framework for Butler schools. Security officers will become members of the Butler School District Police Force, district solicitor Tom King said.
The district also named Paul Epps as the director of the school's security force.
The new changes, King said, are to take advantage of school safety amendments made at the state level under state Act 44 of 2018.
In 2012, the district started using armed, retired state police officers for school security. Once approved, the new framework would enable the district to employ retired deputy sheriffs and municipal police officers as well, broadening their hiring range.
The school is also asking permission for officers to carry non-lethal weapons — such as batons or tasers — and handcuffs.
Officers would be able to make arrests for offenses lesser than misdemeanor level. They would also be given the right to detain and hold a suspect for agencies such as state police to arrive.
Epps said Tuesday he believes those are authorities school officers are long-overdue to be given.
“It's going to give us a lot more authority, and I feel this is a function we should already be performing,” he said.
Epps said he couldn't estimate how many arrests school officers might make over the course of a year, but he said it would be “quite a few.”
School buses are added to officers' jurisdiction, allowing the district to send security on the road in situations like a class field trip.
Vans used by school security officers will be marked and given flashing warning lights, King said.
“I don't think students will notice anything except officers carrying different gear,” King said.
On Tuesday, King seemed confident the school's petition would be approved. He said he had met with Doerr and various local law enforcement agencies, such as Butler City Police, Butler Township Police, Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe and District Attorney Richard Goldinger, to speak about the petition last week.
“Everybody is on the same page,” King said.
It's seemingly not just local forces on the same page — King sees the changes as the state catching up to Butler's model.
The district made national headlines when it armed school officers in the aftermath of Sandy Hook. Now, King said, the district is going from operating on a judge's orders only to operating on a judges order as it's described and sanctioned in state law.
“I think it's an excellent step forward,” King said. “It's a gigantic step forward.”
