Following the stifled plot of three middle school students in Albion who intended to conduct a violent attack inside their school, Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) is reiterating a call for armed School Resource Officers (SROs) to be present inside every school in New York state. The School Resource Officer assigned to Albion Central School District helped thwart the planned attack after receiving information from school officials about a threatening message posted on the app Discord.

Hawley’s legislation, A.3732, supported by both Majority and Minority politicians, would mandate that all School Resource Officers are properly trained veterans or retired law enforcement and provides $50,000 in state grants to each school district that hires a SRO. Hawley wrote Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie during 2018 budget negotiations asking for funding for each school statewide to hire more armed security following the horrific school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

“I applaud the work of local law enforcement and teachers in Albion for stopping this plan and thank them for their vigilance. The situation at Albion Middle School proves that increased security measures are absolutely necessary in schools across the state. This is a wake-up call that these dangers are very real, and tomorrow we may be faced with a different outcome,” Hawley said. “I will continue pushing for each school around the state to be given grant funding to hire at least one armed School Resource Officer. We cannot place a cost on the safety of our children and our teachers.”