Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero said Wednesday that he will place armed officers in Denver’s comprehensive high schools following a shooting at East High despite the fact that doing so “likely violates” Board of Education policy, according to a letter he sent to board members.
Officers were removed from Denver schools in 2020 in the wake of the unrest following the in-custody death of George Floyd.
The decision to have armed police in city schools comes after East students and parents called for tighter security measures following the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old student in February and on the heels of a second shooting Wednesday in which two administrators were injured, the Denver Post reports.
Two armed officers from the Denver Police Department will be stationed at East during school hours for the rest of the academic year. Marrero is also “committing” to have an armed officer at each comprehensive high school and to have conversations with principals “to understand their continuing need and desire for this resource,” according to his letter.
When removing officers in 2020, some members of the school board argued that having officers in schools are harmful to students of color and play a role in the school-to-prison pipeline.
One school board member who was a vocal critic of law enforcement in schools, Tay Anderson, has now reportedly called Denver’s Police Chief Ron Thomas and requested 160 officers be placed in 80 of the district’s schools, CBS Colorado says.
Mayor Michael Hancock's Chief of Staff Alan Salazar said Hancock supports school resource officers in schools, believing they are a deterrent and an added layer of public safety, but he added that Anderson’s request will be impossible with current police staffing levels. "This is as close to a non-starter as I can think of in terms of police resources. The reality is we don't have 160 officers to deploy for that. At a time of challenges with recruiting officers, it's unlikely we are going to meet this request."
