Reporter Julian Mendoza’s front-page Recorder photo of a policeman toting a semi-automatic rifle outside Greenfield High on Feb. 15 [“Police investigate threat phoned in to high school”] spoke volumes to me about the state of our “civil” society — not just here in Greenfield but across the commonwealth and the country. It also left me with a raft of questions. I guess the first is simply, how did we get here? The second was more rhetorical: are we failing our children?
Though it may be a comfort to many that officers could respond to a threat or shooting with massive firepower, I also looked at that photo wondering why in the world must we have a militarized police force? And why must millions upon millions of dollars be spent every year in thousands of towns and cities across this country “hardening” school buildings, turning them into massively surveilled structures resembling prisons? It’s no wonder school staffing positions from top to bottom go unfilled.
I agree with Deputy Police Chief William Gordon’s observation, “The bigger thing was the anxiety in the school with the teachers and the students. In reality it’s the emotional toll it takes on the public.” How true.
We, as the adults, have failed to reign in the gun lobbies and the grim uses of social media to spread terror from society’s darkest corners. Perhaps it’s time to sue manufacturers of these weapons for denying our kids the safe setting where they can learn. Here in Greenfield racism has caused our police officers to go to a four-day a week schedule. Some likely love it. But I do wonder about making judgment calls with a rifle in hand after ten hours on the job?
Karl Meyer
Greenfield