Following the recent school shooting in Parkland, Fla., school boards in Chautauqua County have been discussing adding school resource officers.

Currently, Jamestown Public Schools and Falconer Central School employ two resource officers through the Jamestown Police Department and the Ellicott Police Department, respectively. Since the shooting in Florida, schools have seen a much larger law enforcement presence making routine walks through district buildings.

Deputies with the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office are stationed at Forestville and Silver Creek schools as well as two at BOCES schools at multiple buildings.

While Panama, Clymer, Bemus Point and Frewsburg schools do not employ resource officers, each district has reported an increased presence of law enforcement since the shooting in Florida. Separate from routinely scheduled lockdown drills, in which area law enforcement participates, the Sheriff’s Office has sent deputies to several school districts to conduct additional patrols.

“I have assigned deputies that do a visit at random times,” Sheriff Joe Gerace The Post-Journal.

Following the Parkland shooting, Gerace said the deputies’ presence was increased as concerns from school district and their respective communities heightened. “As long as we aren’t tied up on other cases it will continue,” Gerace said.

In response to security concerns, the Bemus Point Central School District held a community safety forum where Superintendent Michael Mansfield and members from the New York State Police and Jamestown Police Department received feedback from the community regarding student safety.

Mansfield likened employing a resource officer as the district having an additional counselor “with maybe a handgun.”

In the Falconer district, Superintendent Stephen Penhollow said the relationship with the Ellicott Police Department has allowed the district to employ an SRO. Falconer employs two retired officers who work in rotation of each other and share time at the high school and middle school as well as Fenner Elementary School.

In Jamestown, Superintendent Bret Apthorpe praised the two resource officers that are employed in the district, but noted that the current safety issue goes beyond strengthening security. Apthorpe emphasized concerns of mental health and subsequent state funding regarding the issue.

“We need help,” he said.

In past, the state government funded SRO program for many years but when the funding was cut off most schools weren’t able to fund the officers alone.

“I’m a firm believer in the SRO program,” Gerace said.

Gerace called adding a resource officer a “triad approach.” He described the benefits of having an officer in a school as bringing more than just security into the building; the officer would add a personal aspect to the school environment, too.

“They always develop relationships with the students,” Gerace said.

The third aspect of employing an SRO, according to Gerace, is that the officers or deputies fill the role of a “presenter.” Gerace said the officer can bring in guest speakers or serve as a guest speaker in a class and explain how particular subjects can relate to law enforcement and the outside world.

The New York State Sheriff’s Association has recently called upon government funding of resource officers in schools. It’s a position the sheriff has supported strongly.

“Having that ear to the ground ground and having that relationship with the kids is huge,” Gerace said.

As for school emergency plans, Gerace said those are a “work in progress” and need to be continually updated and said he supported any additional barriers — like vestibules with a double entry way system — at the entrance of school buildings like many districts have implemented.