Vice President Kamala Harris has come under fire for comments she made in 2019 supporting the removal of police officers from schools, which critics say would make students less safe. Her comments have drawn condemnation from school safety advocates and family members of victims of school shootings, who argue that more police officers are needed in schools to protect students.
Vice President Kamala Harris has been criticized for her past comments on school safety, specifically her support for removing police officers from schools. In 2019, Harris, then a California senator, said that she supported "demilitarizing" schools by removing police officers. Her comments have drawn condemnation from school safety advocates and family members of victims of school shootings, who argue that more police officers are needed in schools to protect students.
JT Lewis, whose six-year-old brother was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, said that Harris' comments were "sickening."
Kamala Harris' Troubling History on School Safety
"My brother was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting because of liberal policies like the one Kamala is pushing here… I wish there had been a police officer there to protect him. Students need more protection, not less!" Lewis said.
Ryan Petty, whose 14-year-old daughter was killed in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, said that Harris' comments were "reckless" and "radical."
Kamala Harris' Troubling History on School Safety
"Kamala wants to make schools less safe. Your kids aren’t safe with Kamala Harris in office," Petty said.
Andrew Pollack, whose 18-year-old daughter was also killed in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, said that Harris' comments were "disgusting."
Kamala Harris' Troubling History on School Safety
"This is sickening. My daughter was killed because Parkland didn’t have enough security. We need more school resource officers — not fewer!" Pollack said.
Harris' comments were made ahead of the 2020 summer of protests and riots in response to the killing of George Floyd during a police interaction. Floyd's death reignited calls from activists to defund the police, which had a cascading effect across the country as liberal cities moved to slash police budgets, and school boards also voted to sever ties with police departments.
Kamala Harris' Troubling History on School Safety
Researchers with the outlet Education Week found in 2022 that at least 50 school districts between May 2020 through June 2022 had removed officers from school campuses or slashed budgets for school officers. The plans to remove officers from schools, however, were short-lived in many jurisdictions, as violence broke out on campuses when students returned to the classrooms following the pandemic and its lockdowns.
In the face of violence, such as a shooting at a Denver high school, or repeated fights within the Alexandria, Virginia, school district, education officials from coast to coast backtracked on removing officers, welcoming them back to campuses in an effort to curb crime.
Kamala Harris' Troubling History on School Safety
Harris has not commented on her previous statements on school safety since she became vice president.
