Armed Officers Will Patrol New Jersey Town’s Schools

EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. — When classes were dismissed Tuesday at East Brunswick High School, students could be seen yelling and laughing as they exited the building, just as they would on any other day.

Except that it was not a typical day. Outside the school building, the lights of three police vehicles flashed continuously. Students who normally did not wear their IDs on a lanyard were required to because of tightened security. And everywhere, students said, people were talking about the school board’s decision last week to place armed police officers inside the schools.

“It’s sad, but, at the same time, it’s kind of needed,” said Faith Hutson, a 17-year-old junior who is a member of the student council. “If that’s what we have to do in order for us to be safe, I’m fine with it.”

Tuesday was the first day that a new policy adding armed police officers to the security forces at East Brunswick schools took effect. The measure, approved by the school district Thursday night, thrust this central New Jersey town into the spotlight as one of the first districts to take concrete action on security in the wake of the Parkland, Florida, shooting.

Across New Jersey, several other towns have had to deal with a spate of false alarms and threats. The town of Nutley closed its schools Friday after police investigated a threat made on Instagram.

And at a news conference Tuesday about gun safety in schools, Gov. Philip D. Murphy announced that the New Jersey State Police would start regular, but unannounced, officer visits to the 107 schools in districts where it has jurisdiction.

“Any parent watching should feel that we are doing everything we can,” Murphy said.

New Jersey has some of the toughest gun laws in the country. But at the news conference, Murphy, a Democrat who has been a staunch gun control advocate, vowed to work with the state Legislature, controlled by Democrats, to sign several bills that had been vetoed by his predecessor, Chris Christie, a Republican.

East Brunswick is adding armed police officers to complement its 71 school resource officers — all of them retired law-enforcement officers — throughout its 11 schools. The officers will not necessarily be assigned to a specific post, but rather move around different areas, and be a visible presence, talking to students and teachers and other staff. And while the district did not specify the number of officers being hired, Victor Valeski, the schools superintendent, said that the district would spend $434,000 on the initiative, a small increase in a budget that exceeds $150 million.

“They were saddened to make this decision but they knew it was the right decision to make,” he said about the school board.

Brad J. Cohen, East Brunswick’s mayor, who was a former member of the board of education, said that the decision was “not a knee-jerk reaction” but rather something that had been contemplated for several years. But after consulting with police officials and others, the township came up with its proposal.

“I’m just hoping that it’s a deterrent,” Cohen said. “What angers me is the negative people out there who say you’re arming schools, you’re going to create a hostile working environment for students. I’m sorry, if someone is murdered in the schools, they’re going to be scarred for the rest of their lives.”

East Brunswick’s move comes as other schools contemplate additional security. Around the country, more than 42 percent of schools now have school resource officers, law enforcement officers who have arrest authority and have specialized training, according to a 2017 report from the National Center for Education Statistics.

Patrick Kissane, executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Resource Officers, praised East Brunswick’s decision, but said that it was crucial that the police officers be able to work with teenagers.

“They’re there as a mentor, as a role model, they’re building relationships,” said Kissane, who is also deputy chief of the Fort Lee Police Department.

In East Brunswick, Frank Tornabene, 50, was waiting after school in his BMW convertible for his son, a fourth-grader, outside Central Elementary School.

Like most people interviewed, he praised the new policy, saying “it’s about time. You can’t put a price on anything that has to do with the safety of kids.”

But he also worried about whether things would truly be safer, in the long run.

“I hope it’s not just gung ho in the beginning and things dwindle down,” he said.