Arizona legislation could include adding 110 school resource officers

PHOENIX — School safety legislation could be introduced Wednesday at the Arizona Capitol that would include millions in funding for more than 100 additional resource officers.

The proposal, in a draft stage, made its way around the statehouse this week.

It showed a $2 million boost to the $12 million the state already spends annually, but a spokesman for Gov. Doug Ducey said the additional funding could climb as high as $11 million.

Ducey has promised to increase the number of “resource officers and law enforcement resources for schools.”

Ducey unveiled an action plan to improve campus and community safety last month, a few weeks after a disturbed 19-year-old shot and killed 17 at a Florida high school.

If the 110 officers were hired, that would almost double how many are paid by the state.

Students across the country have become civically active since the Florida shooting, walking out of class or, in Arizona, sitting in Ducey’s office to protest gun violence and support gun control.

The legislation could be introduced as soon as Wednesday but bipartisan opposition means its fate remains unclear.

Democrats are pushing for universal firearms purchase background checks and oppose more guns on campuses.

Some Republicans are concerned about new provisions making it easier to remove guns from people deemed a threat by the courts.

The new “Severe Threat Order of Protection” provisions allow a legal guardian, law enforcement officer or school official to ask a judge to order a mental evaluation and to remove a person’s firearms.

“The STOP orders are very concerning,” Republican Rep. Anthony Kern said Wednesday. “My concerns would be potentials for abuse in filing those STOP orders.”

Kern said there’s no definition of what would merit such an order and he’s concerned about abuses and how someone cleared can erase the court case from their record.

“I want it completely off their record if a judge finds them competent at any step of the way,” Kern said. “Once their guns are returned, if their guns are taken away, I want that off their record. People can go through hard times and make some poor choices and say some poor things and I don’t want it held against them.”

Scarpinato acknowledged the opposition from both sides of the aisle, but argued that it is a common-sense package that is balanced between protecting rights and making school safer.

“As with any good legislation the extremes may find issues with it,” Scarpinato said. “But I think this is a mainstream plan that addresses the issue we’ve seen and does so in a way that protects the 2nd Amendment rights of Arizonans and makes sure our schools are safe.”

Republican Rep. Kelly Townsend took offense at that characterization, saying it implied she may not be reasonable or want to find solutions to school violence. She believes the STOP orders are unconstitutional.

“What we’re doing is taking someone into custody before they’re being adjudicated and giving them a psychiatric examination before a crime has been committed, which is in direct violation of the 4th Amendment of the Constitution,” she said. “And I cannot support that because of my oath.”

Jordan Harb, a student who led 15,000-student march to the state Capitol last month to protest gun violence, blasted the proposal.

“Stop throwing pennies and empty promises at a problem that demands real funding and real action,” he said in a statement.

Harb called for a ban on so-called bump sticks, a major increase in school counselors and universal background checks.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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