Liberty boosting armed security inside elementary schools
LIBERTY, Mo . — Liberty Public Schools is boosting armed security inside its buildings, from early childhood to high school.
New this school year, Liberty Public Schools will have full-time armed security officers at each of its 11 elementary schools and the Early Childhood Education Center.
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“We want to make everybody feel safe,” Liberty Public Schools Director of Safety and Security Gary Majors said. “Up until this year, we’ve had security at our high schools, and last year we added the middle schools, full-time security. And this year we decided to add elementary schools.”
The district went from 11 security officers to 23. He said almost all of them have prior law enforcement experience.
“So they’re retired officers or officers who have worked for 10 or 12 years in the law enforcement capacity,” Majors said. “I do have one or two that are prior military, with extensive military experience as well.”
There’s one full-time school resource officer who currently works for the Liberty Police Department, according to Majors.
In addition to that, they have three armed mobile security officers to roam the district wherever they’re needed.
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There are also nine safety monitors who are unarmed. They stay at the high schools and act as extra sets of eyes.
“One of their main goals is to build positive relationships with the students,” Majors said. “Often times that results in a lot of information that’s being passed along and lets us be proactive and prevent things before they ever occur.”
John Kennebeck said he has a high school student who worries about the next threat.
“The way I look at it is the safety of the students is the most important thing,” he said.
Mayr Oyler has a first grader in the Liberty School District.
“We can’t protect our kids enough,” Oyler said. “As a parent, we want to keep our kids safe. We want to send our kids to school and feel confident that they’re safe. I think Liberty increasing their security measures is showing that they care about our kids and our staff.”
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The additional staff costs $600,000.
“Can’t put price on the safety of your kids,” Oyler said.
“We have an extensive camera system. We have an extensive radio system.We have several layers of security throughout the schools, and the officer is just one more of those layers,” Majors said.
All students in the Liberty School District start classes Wednesday.
