Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh to hire armed officers for schools
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese is making safety and security within its schools a top priority.
The diocese says it'll hire armed officers for its 45 schools as a proactive step to keep students and teachers safe.
The diocese hired Wendell Hissrich, the former Pittsburgh Public Safety director, as their security expert. He says he plans to put together a team of supervisors and officers to ensure their schools are safe.
Hissrich says a hot-button issue right now is violence at schools. He says he's hired four regional supervisors, all of which has over 25 years of law enforcement experience. Each of those supervisors will have two officers working under them, trained to de-escalate any situation while also being able to communicate with parents and students.
Hissrich says they also plan to equip each school with medical supplies such as tourniquets and Stop the Bleed equipment so they're prepared for anything that could happen.
He says the idea has been top of mind as threats have increased across the country and after dozens of schools were targeted in a series of swatting calls last spring.
He believes similar incidents will continue and is creating a plan so each school, student, teacher and officer is ready, and that includes arming the officers.
"We want to make sure everyone is safe and we also have to make sure that we give the tools to the officers to make sure that is carried out," Hissrich said.
"We have to provide that secure environment for students. We have to have our parents drop their children off in the morning and feel they can go about their day," said Superintendent Michelle Peduto.
As far as how soon the officers will be in the schools, Hissrich says they're still making hires and instituting a plan.
