Conn. lawmakers told don't make schools fortresses

WTNH TV

Updated: Jan 25, 2013 5:23 PM

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — The first of the Sandy Hook Task Force public hearings dealt specifically with school safety.

"Incidents like this might not be preventable completely, but we're going to work hard to achieve better and safer schools," said Sen. Toni Boucher, (R) Wilton.

The big question for the senator and the committee she chairs is how. Sandy Hook Elementary had a safety plan. Every school does these days.

"We did our lockdown drills and fire drills," said Off. Steven Whitehead of the Waterford Police Department. "Everyone thought it couldn't happen here. It's happened in our backyard."

Whitehead is a school resource officer in Waterford. Those officers do help with security, but they are expensive, and could one officer really have stopped the killer in Newtown? He shot his way into the school, so some say the answer is bulletproof glass and doors.

"And in some cases, some have suggested fences and guard stations incorporated into every school campus," said David Lenihan from the Connecticut Association of School Business Officials. "It is vital to remember that schools are not prisons."

So then what about arming the people who are already in the schools? Even professional gun trainers are not sure arming teachers is the right solution.

"I do struggle with that," shooting trainer Vincent Riccio said. "It will have to be on an individual school board level. If they are going to have guns they need lots of training."

And that's one of the guys who does the training. This isn't even the controversial hearing. Everyone here agrees school safety need improvement. The only question is how and how much. The real controversy comes Monday when this same task force takes on the topic of how to toughen the state's gun laws.

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