Pressley’s Dumb Idea to Defund School Cops [OPINION]

Massachusetts Democrat Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley has reintroduced legislation to halt federal funding for police resource officers in the nation's public schools. What a dumb idea.

The Boston Herald reports the Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act Pressley has co-sponsored with fellow Democrat Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut would prohibit the use of federal dollars to hire or maintain police officers in schools nationwide. Federal grants would be used to hire counselors and provide mental health services instead of police.

"Instead of subsidizing more police officers, we need to help schools hire more counselors, more nurses, more mental health practitioners, and our bill will do just that," the paper quoted Pressley as saying.

The Herald reports that under the plan, local communities would still be allowed to fund school resource officers should they chose to.

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The paper cites government "data" that shows about 42 percent of public schools have at least one school resource officer. Of schools with 1,000 students or more, 77 percent had an SRO on staff. Pressley says the federal government has spent roughly $1 billion on school resource officers since 1988. She says students of color are more often than not unfairly targeted and disciplined by the SROs.

School Resource Officers play a vital role in keeping our public schools safe by collecting intelligence gathered through bonds established within the school community. They are the front line in the event of an attack from the outside.

The left's desire to dismantle school policing is a part of a larger effort to defund, discredit, and dismantle the police. It's a dumb idea that would make our schools less safe while creating more "victims" in a political system that uses victimization to build power.

Just say no to Ayanna Pressley and her bill to defund school resource officers.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.