GLENWOOD | Village President Kerry Durkin said on Wednesday he is one of thousands of municipal leaders throughout the country who have signed a resolution started in New York, urging a government response to last month's school shooting in Newtown, Conn.
"It doesn't promote any specific agenda, but it does promote conversation, and there will never be an agenda without conversation," Durkin said.
He feels that while discussion on the issue has started on the local level of government, it has not yet begun on the national level.
"Something needs to be done over standards for security, over standards for magazines and guns, whatever it is, there's got to be something done," Durkin said.
He spoke of a radio report he heard regarding a school district in New Jersey that has now decided to place an armed police officer in each of its schools.
"The cost of that is utterly ridiculous when you're paying the pension, benefits and everything else," Durkin said.
The resolution signed by local leaders will be presented to the various state legislatures, according to Durkin.
"But it's also going to be taken to Washington D.C., because that's where the ultimate legislation is going to need to come from," he said.
Locally, Trustee Terry Campbell said Brookwood Elementary District 167 in Glenwood has had a crisis team in place for about five years.
"They have teachers and staff involved from all the buildings," said Campbell, who served on the D.167 school board from 1995 to 2009.
He said that when the schools are not occupied by students police are allowed use of the buildings for "SWAT take-down practice."
"They have some cameras indoors that we can access from the police car," Campbell said. "I'd like to see more of that."
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