Dr. Babur Lateef, the newly appointed Prince William County School Board Chairman, says a plan funded by the county’s Board of Supervisors to put five armed community safety officers in elementary schools is a good idea.
“I fully support the pilot program. I believe it is another layer of security we can provide on a system that has multiple layers already. I look forward to the implementation of the program and the ultimate results. I think this program is a good example of community agencies, elected officials and community stakeholders working together to address serious concerns of the public,” Lateef states in an email to Potomac Local.
The half-a-million dollar program is the brainchild of another chairman in the county, Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman, At-large Corey Stewart. His board supported his efforts to fund the program, making it a budget-season victory for the Republican whose running for the Republican Party nomination for a statewide U.S. Senate office.
His second budget-season bid to hike taxes on companies that operate data centers in the county to serve tech giants like Amazon and Google failed.
“Absolutely, this is an issue I can hang my hat on,” said Stewart in an interview with Potomac Local. “This issue has been on the forefront of many people’s minds.”
Stewart proposed the plan following a mass school shooting at Stoneman Douglass High School in Florida in January where 17 people were shot and killed. After announcing the plan, the Virginia Police Chiefs Association denounced the plan.
“Some don’t like it see it as supplanting active duty law enforcement,” added Stewart.
Under a pilot program that could roll out this fall, five school protection officers and one supervisor would be assigned to elementary schools. They would be school division employees, not on the police payroll, and hiring preference would be given to former active duty military and retired law enforcement officers.
If the pilot is successful, it could be rolled out to more schools in the county. And, while the money is there to fund the pilot program, it can’t move ahead without approval from the School Board which has yet to vote on the matter.
In 2011, Lateef, an ophthalmologist who ran as a Democrat that year, rivaled Stewart as both sought the At-large Chairman seat on the Prince William County Board of Supervisors.
Today, Stewart said he’s glad to have Lateef’s support on the issue and congratulated him on his interim appointment to the School Board.
