Knight moves to STEP up school Safety

Representative Steve Knight, R-Palmdale, has introduced a new bill into congress to use federal funds to improve training, equipment and school protection, according to a press release from his office.

The School Training Equipment and Protection Act, or STEP, was introduced to the House after Knight’s recent discussions with law enforcement professionals and other members of congress.

“When I spoke with law enforcement professionals following the tragedy in Parkland, Florida, there were two central concerns that they shared,” said Knight. “First, there needs to be better training for law enforcement and school personnel to respond to an active shooter situation. Second, schools need to determine where their security vulnerabilities are and address those issues. This bill allocates resources for both of these goals and several other related measures.”

The STEP Act uses $50 million of an existing Department of Education grant program to be used for seven purposes.

Barricade technology to enable faculty to strengthen doors and windows quickly in the event of an active shooter threat.
Surveillance technology.
Individualized active shooter alarms.
Security and active shooter training for school faculty and staff.
Coordination activities with local law enforcement agencies.
Active shooter training exercises on school grounds for local law enforcement agencies
Vulnerability assessments and corresponding action plans, as executed by law enforcement agencies.

“We need real, passable solutions to our school gun violence problem. For far too long, both sides of the aisle just point fingers at one another after tragedies while nothing gets done.” Said Rep. Knight “It’s time for Congress to step up and deliver bipartisan solutions to this problem. Yesterday, we passed the STOP School Violence Act to address many of the problems that lead up to an incident. The STEP Act will give schools and law enforcement the tools and training necessary to better respond to and mitigate these incidences when they occur.”

Earlier this month Knight met with local law enforcement professionals to share ideas that would be included into the STEP Act.

Wednesday the House passed the STOP Act that updates existing law to add evidence based training and prevention services to increase school safety. STOP will now move to the Senate before it can be fully signed into law.

 

The above information was obtained by The Signal via a press release from the office of Representative Steve Knight.