Security expert: Nashville school shooting should serve as a wake up call for similar schools in North Texas
DENTON COUNTY (CBSNewsTexas.com) – A North Texas private security expert says what happened in Nashville exposes a risk to private schools here.
CBS News Texas took a look at the challenges getting some private schools operated by churches to use armed guards.
Chuck Chadwick has more than 500 active security guards in 100 churches and private schools across Texas.
He's offered lethal and non-lethal training at the Christian Security Institute in the Denton County town of Aubrey for 17 years.
"We take staff of churches and private schools and make them professional security officers," Chadwick said. "Like a coach or athletics director, dean of students administrators people like that."
Chadwick says Monday's deadly mass shooting at a private religious school in Nashville should serve as a wake up call for similar schools here.
"It's terrible that they didn't have anybody," he said.
While many of the larger private schools in North Texas hire off duty officers or have their own police force, Chadwick says you would be surprised how many smaller private schools in the DFW area don't have any armed security.
"Probably 90% if not more of the private schools don't have anything," he said. "They seem they're all ready to go and then it's like the board doesn't want any guns on campus and that's great until something happens."
It costs only $920 and six days of training for this institute to certify a church employee as a private security officer. But the owner says it's surprising just how few private schools are willing to invest in it
Private schools that operate in or near a house of worship, Chadwick says, can be especially vulnerable to unwelcome intruders.
"They have church functions go on all during the day," he said. "So the chances that somebody not associated with the school is going to be on the campus or walking through the area is real high."
This 40 year veteran of private security says there simply aren't enough police officers to to provide an armed presence at all public schools much less private ones.
Without the state funding that public schools get, he says some private schools could be softer targets.