Spurred by the tragic school shootings in recent years that now include Parkland, Fla., a bipartisan group of U.S. senators Monday (March 5) introduced legislation to fund school security improvements as well as early intervention and prevention programs to stop school violence before it happens.
The Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing School Violence Act, also known as the STOP School Violence Act, would authorize the U.S. Department of Justice to make grants for the purposes of training students, school personnel, and law enforcement to identify signs of violence and intervene to prevent people from hurting themselves or others, according to a news release. Senators stated the STOP School Violence Act would reauthorize and amend the Secure Our Schools Act of 2001-2009.
The legislation would fund “evidence-based technology and equipment,” including “the development of anonymous reporting systems and commonsense security infrastructure improvements,” to improve school security and prevent school violence. It would authorize $75 million for 2018, and $100 million annually for the next 10 years, which may be partially offset from a Justice Department research program called the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative.
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