In the wake of the recent school shootings in Florida and Maryland, Glendale city leaders were spurred into action. By today each one of the nine high-school campuses will have their own school-resource officer.

The plan is a necessary one says Glendale police chief, Rick St. John, as he pointed out that threats to school security have increased since 17 students and faculty were murdered at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. More than a dozen incidents have been investigated since then, in sharp contrast to the one or two threats they would normally have seen in that time period. 

Deer Valley High School, Mountain Ridge High School, Apollo High School, Glendale High School and Independence High School are the schools that will be receiving an SRO. Raymond S. Kellis High School, Copper Canyon High School, Cactus High School and Ironwood High School all already have officers and will continue the program. All of the officers will receive training to aid them in seeing the red flags that serve as a warning to future violence.

Both Mayor Jerry Weiers and City Manager Kevin Phelps saw the need to take action and do something to address violence their city’s schools. The cost of the program was really not a factor, said Weiers.

“We financially really couldn’t afford to do this,” Weiers said, “but we can’t afford NOT to do this. Highly trained police officers are exactly what we need in our schools, protecting and serving students and staff. And that is why we have made the decision to take the lead by taking this action.”

At a cost of $1.7 million the program will fund the five additional officers, as well as the training and equipment to allow them to do their job properly. The funds will come from the city’s general fund. Phelps is still working out the details exactly where the cuts will be made to pay for it. Proposals are to cut a vacant support position for the mayor and city council offices and to have a slightly smaller increase in pay for non-union employees in the upcoming year.