3 ms·

> uniformed police officers were on the school's payroll This is nuts. Even in countries that are quite authoritarian politically there's way less policing of

> uniformed police officers were on the school's payroll This is nuts. Even in countries that are quite authoritarian politically there's way less policing of boring daily life. You are living in a ridiculous police state.

TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
This is normal in American high schools. Even in the 1980s, when I was in high school and before school shootings, we had one or two officers on the grounds every day. It was their full-time job.
- giantg2 5y ago
  I think it depends on the area and school size. It seems like the larger or more urban schools tend, or tended, to have police or even security guards. A lot of the smaller rural schools did not.
  - TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
    You're probably right. But my school was in a suburb of 60,000 - 80,000 people. Not urban.
    - giantg2 5y ago
      Yeah, the rural schools I'm talking about graduate about 100 students. So it sounds like yours are quite a bit large.
  - floatboth 5y ago
    > police or even security guards "Or even"? Aren't guards the much much "lighter", more reasonable option? Guards usually just sit there watching the CCTV (often dicking around on their phone instead), they don't have the same ability to wield state-sanctioned violence that the police has.
    - giantg2 5y ago
      It depends. You can have unarmed guards that are basically as you describe. Although the comment about being on their phone is commonly applicable to the police as well. Those guards are practically worthless since all they will be doing is calling the police if something happens - something the staff could do. You could also have armed guards. Most states have licensing requirements for armed and even unarmed guards. They can have some state-sanctioned violence too. For example, felonies committed in ones presence are enforced by state licensed guards (not much different than citizen's arrest except because one has a state issued license the court bias is with you rather than against you). And an example of a felony would be striking a teacher (or guard/police) which is aggravated assualt (in my state). Another thing is that many times the schools only want to hire retired LEOs for their guard positions. This can give them more leeway due to prosecutorial and law enforcement discretion as well as court bias.
dougmwne 5y ago
The growth of the police and prison state in the US is a big reason behind the defund the police movement. While even the majority is starting to feel quite policed, it has always been felt more strongly in minority communities.

TedDoesntTalk 5y ago

This is normal in American high schools. Even in the 1980s, when I was in high school and before school shootings, we had one or two officers on the grounds every day. It was their full-time job.

giantg2 5y ago
I think it depends on the area and school size. It seems like the larger or more urban schools tend, or tended, to have police or even security guards. A lot of the smaller rural schools did not.
- TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
  You're probably right. But my school was in a suburb of 60,000 - 80,000 people. Not urban.
  - giantg2 5y ago
    Yeah, the rural schools I'm talking about graduate about 100 students. So it sounds like yours are quite a bit large.
- floatboth 5y ago
  > police or even security guards "Or even"? Aren't guards the much much "lighter", more reasonable option? Guards usually just sit there watching the CCTV (often dicking around on their phone instead), they don't have the same ability to wield state-sanctioned violence that the police has.
  - giantg2 5y ago
    It depends. You can have unarmed guards that are basically as you describe. Although the comment about being on their phone is commonly applicable to the police as well. Those guards are practically worthless since all they will be doing is calling the police if something happens - something the staff could do. You could also have armed guards. Most states have licensing requirements for armed and even unarmed guards. They can have some state-sanctioned violence too. For example, felonies committed in ones presence are enforced by state licensed guards (not much different than citizen's arrest except because one has a state issued license the court bias is with you rather than against you). And an example of a felony would be striking a teacher (or guard/police) which is aggravated assualt (in my state). Another thing is that many times the schools only want to hire retired LEOs for their guard positions. This can give them more leeway due to prosecutorial and law enforcement discretion as well as court bias.

dougmwne 5y ago

The growth of the police and prison state in the US is a big reason behind the defund the police movement. While even the majority is starting to feel quite policed, it has always been felt more strongly in minority communities.