The Berwick School District is authorized to have an armed police presence in its schools.

Although Berwick Area High School and two elementary schools are within the Columbia County borough, the district also has facilities in Luzerne County. Last Thursday, Luzerne Judge David W. Lupas approved a petition to allow the district to establish an armed force of school police officers in those schools. It had received earlier approval from a Columbia County judge, and two retired state police troopers have already been working as school police officers for about two months.The court approval grants full police powers, including powers to prosecute criminal violations, detain, arrest and investigate. To fund the use of the officers, the district is using a $45,000 state grant and is using part-time officers who do not get benefits.In its petition, the district stated that "recent events relating to hostile acts" on school properties prompted its petition and that "the establishment of armed and fully empowered and authorized School Police Officers" would provide "a tremendous deterrent" to crime and take "some of burden of police presence" off municipal and state police.The use of school police officers or allowing trained teachers or other school officials to carry guns is on ongoing debate in schools around the nation.Two months ago, Times News writer Chris Parker reported on a bill proposed by state Sen. Don White of Indiana County that would allow school boards to decide whether to allow teachers and other staff who are trained and licensed to carry firearms in school buildings and on the grounds. The bill received mixed reviews from local lawmakers, school administrators and police in the Times News coverage area.Pennsylvania school districts have been hiring armed officers since a rash of mass school shootings over the past decade. After the 2012 mass school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, which left 20 students and six staffers dead, the Butler County School District immediately hired 22 retired state troopers to work as armed guards.Surveys show most Americans and a majority of parents with school-age children believe a police presence in schools would make them safer. Rasmussen reports 62 percent of parents with school-age children said they would feel safer having an armed guard at school, compared with 22 percent if their child attended a gun-free school. A Christian Science Monitor/TIPP poll shows 64 percent of Americans support increasing a police presence in schools while 29 percent oppose it.A 2010 report by the U.S. Justice Department concluded there are possible benefits from having armed officers in schools. "Research suggests that although (security resource officer) programs do not significantly impact youth criminality, the presence of an officer nonetheless can enhance school safety," it stated.It cited two programs in the United Kingdom and Canada that have evaluated specific safety outcomes and found improvements due to the presence of police in schools."These programs hold lessons for school safety efforts in the United States," the report stated.By JIM ZBICKeditor@tnonline.com