STARKVILLE, Miss. (WTVA) -- After shootings on school campuses in the past several months, many school districts across the nation and in Mississippi are revisiting school protection measures and implementing new methods.
The Starkville School District is doing both of those things by implementing a use-of-force policy that would allow on-campus police officers to carry firearms and use them if necessary.
"After the Sandy Hook situation or even before Sandy Hook, we were considering a policy of our own because if something, heaven forbid, ever did happen and someone would say, 'Well, you weren't authorized to do that,'" said Starkville Superintendent Dr. Lewis Holloway.
The proposed use-of-force policy does several things.
It specifies what type of firearms officers can have, where they are to have them and how they can use them.
The policy also specifies training for officers that are in schools.
"And we practiced that. It just wasn't written down and said this is what we'll do. It somewhat sets in stone how our officers will be trained, how our officers will operate and what our expectations are," said Holloway.
Holloway explained that officers will be under specific regulations when it comes to the type of firearms they will be allowed to use.
"We want our police officers to only have school-issued firearms. We don't want a backup gun. We want to know what the weapon is that could be used," added Holloway.
The policy will go before the Starkville School District Board of Trustees for a second reading on March 7.
