Police officers may be placed at middle schools, high school

The Joplin City Council and Joplin R-8 School District are discussing having police officers assigned to each of the three middle schools and to the high school, according to an article posted today on the Joplin Globe website:

Superintendent Jim Simpson said the district has had two city police officers devoted to it for the duration of his six-year tenure, but the shooting at Memorial Middle School in October highlighted the need for an increased police presence.

"This came about post-Memorial shooting, when it was obvious that the school could benefit with additional SROs," Simpson said, "especially in the environment that we find ourselves in now in America, in which schools have become areas where shootings occur."

Should the ordinance be approved, one officer will be stationed at each of the three middle schools and the high school, Simpson said, and they will respond to incidents at elementary schools as needed.