| Credited to Dan Wasserman--Tribune Media Services |
The Federal 1033 Program, also known as the National Defense Authorization Act, equips local and state law enforcement agencies with Department of Defense's excess special military equipment. The requirements of the programs are recipients must be governmental agencies whose primary function are to enforce federal, state, and local law. The individual must be TCLEOSE certified, and has the authority to arrest and apprehend. It is mandatory that their is an annual physical inventory of all property received. On the Texas Department of Public Safety's website, individuals can go on, apply, and create a want list of supplies they would like from the TDPS list of equipment available. They also offer training sessions to get hands on practice with policies and procedures to use military weapons.
The bill was implemented in response to school shootings in the United States. Explained by the Cultivation Theory by George Gerber, the constant televise showings of school shootings has put fear into American hearts. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, statistic shows that there has been a decrease on school shootings since the 1990's. Due to the rise in media technology, unfortunate school shootings have been publicized. Laws such as the Federal 1033 Program was originally a way for congress to help law enforcement who requested for funds to counter narcotics, and counter terrorism. Now, legislatures have manipulated the program to help arm security police officers of K-12 schools for hostile emergencies or scenarios. Fortunately, school may opt out of officers in the facilities carrying the weapons.
Although, the Texas State Department of Public Safety offers training sessions, it is not stated that the sessions are required. The concerns of the possibility of an incompetent officers mishandling the gun, and accidentally firing at a civilian or student rises. Texas law enforcement has had a history of abusing their power and using excess force on minor students. Texas Appleseed, an organization that promotes justice for Texas, has filed several complaints against Texas police officers handling situations at schools. Having military guns on campus could create a hostile environment for students, especially students of color and disabilities. Glamorizing the guns can "contribute to normalization of the criminalization of these youth, worsening educational outcomes, and producing no public safety benefits." For the younger kids, these officers could set an example that guns in public are o.k.
Instead of beefing up the law enforcement around schools, Legislatures should focus on school-based counseling and violence prevention programs to help teach students hot to resolve their conflicts without resorting to violence. Current federal guidance advise schools to emphasize more of evacuation plans, and early identification, and intervention with potential aggressors. The school police department priorities should be more on common scenarios, working with students with mental disabilities, and practicing de-escalation techniques to prevent and reduce violence in hostile situations. Even in extreme cases of hostilities, officers that were equipped with tasers and pepper spray, had outcomes of dangerous and life threatening effects on students. If we cannot trust a police officer on campus with tasers and pepper spray, how do you expect people to feel with these "peace" officers will military grade weapons?
My colleague VyVy Ha addresses an important and concerning issue in her editorial blog post, cleverly titled “Oh Shoot! More Guns at School.” She discusses the Federal 1033 Program, which allows the Department of Defense to equip state and local law enforcement agencies with excess military equipment. The program has now made its way into public K-12 schools, supplying campus security officers with these highly powerful weapons.
ReplyDeleteThe legislation was created in response to school shootings, and Ms. Ha makes a valid point in connecting this reaction to George Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory. She contends that these shootings are highly publicized and magnified by the media, which strikes fear into the hearts of Americans who then feel that extreme actions such as the 1033 Program must be taken. While action does need to be taken to prevent school shootings, I agree that the media’s portrayal of the tragedies is leading people towards solutions that will make schools a less safe environment. The weapons used by the military are very powerful and potentially dangerous, and do not need to be carried around hundreds of young children.
Ms. Ha adds that placing such heavily armed officers throughout public schools will normalize the presence of guns and teach children from a young age that it is acceptable to carry these types of weapons in public. I think this is very true, as children are easily influenced by others, particularly figures of authority. If a generation grows up believing that the only way to feel safe in a public space is to be protected by a military grade weapon, people in the future will be pushing for legislation that allows citizens to carry these weapons everywhere. To keep arming larger and larger portions of our society with increasingly powerful weapons is not an effective way to decrease gun violence.
Like Ms. Ha, I believe that the 1033 Program is a very downstream attempt to solve the problem of gun violence in schools. Rather than prevent tragedy, it merely prepares people for the moment when a tragedy strikes. Ms. Ha suggests that legislators should focus more on implementing school programs aimed at counseling students and preventing violence. I think this is a much more productive idea. If children are taught to peacefully resolve conflicts and school counselors are able to work with students who have shown signs of mental illness, we will see a decrease in violence of all types in public schools. I think Ms. Ha did an excellent job of discussing the implications of the 1033 program. She makes several logical arguments about why it is not an effective solution to violence, and I agree with her that it will potentially create an unsafe environment in schools.