In New York - the nation's largest school system - the city police department's school-safety division staffs the schools with unarmed officers who receive 14 weeks of training, intensive background scrutiny, and drug and character screening. (Armed precinct-based officers, however, also come into the schools.)
The nation's largest cities are by no means alone.
The Council of the Great City Schools, a coalition of large urban districts, surveyed members in 2004 and found that 29 of 37 respondents indicated its officers were armed. Las Vegas, Miami, and Indianapolis are among other bigger districts with their own police forces.
Smaller cities, such as Allentown, too, rely on armed officers, provided by the local city police department. Allentown recently announced it was considering hiring additional officers.
Even some smaller suburban schools, such as Abington's high school and junior high, have "school resource officers," who belong to the local police department. As integral members of the school staff, they teach law-related topics, serve as mentors, and focus on prevention, in addition to providing law enforcement.
"With all of these pieces," Abington Police Chief Bill Kelly said, "it can be a tremendously powerful experience."
The armed-officer model, however, has had its problems. In some districts, there have been tussles over authority between principals and police.
A 2005 report by the Center for the Prevention of School Violence, a think tank in North Carolina, looked at 19 communities - big and small - with school resource officers. In one large community early on in its program, "the sheriff made it known that he was considering filing obstruction-of-justice charges against [a] principal who withheld information about an alleged rape," the report said.
