Diocese of Pittsburgh announces addition of armed police officers to Catholic schools

PITTSBURGH — The Diocese of Pittsburgh announced Thursday that armed police officers will now be in Catholic schools, adding safety is the top priority.

Last year, Oakland Catholic was among the many schools hit with a scary swatting situation.

“None of us can know what’s coming in the future we just do our best to prepare for every eventuality,” Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh School Superintendent Michelle Peduto said.

Four safety supervisors have been hired and job offers are being made to six police officers who will report to them, and carry guns in the schools.

“The hot button issue right now is violence but these officers also will be trained in first aid, emergency medicine and be provided with equipment so that if a medical emergency occurs or some type of other emergency occurs they will be able to respond,” former Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said.

The diocese brought Hissrich on, creating its own director of safety and security position in August.

He says the supervisors and officers are also coming with a lot of law enforcement experience.

“There was strict criteria in hiring them, they all have a vast amount of experience and the experience we were looking for in hiring these officers was that they are able to deal with people and deal with parents deal with students and de-escalate situations,” Hissrich said. “I want these officers to be role models "

The plan is to have one supervisor and two officers per each of the three school regions.

They’ll serve as liaisons to local agencies, should an incident occur.

Parents we spoke with are in favor of adding the officers but do want to feel assured that they’ll safely handle weapons

Leaders say, eventually, they hope to add more to the force.

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