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School-safety act gives police, schools new powers to disarm threatening people
By Matt Reed, BPS News
Two little-known provisions in the new Marjory Stoneman Douglas School Safety Act might do the most to prevent school shootings in Brevard.
The law creates a new legal tool called a “risk protection order,” which allows a court to prohibit a violent or mentally ill person from purchasing or possessing a firearm or other weapon.
Now, if a law enforcement officer – including Brevard’s director of school security or a school resource officer – believes that a person poses a danger to themselves or others by possessing a firearm, their agency can petition a court to have the person immediately surrender their firearms and to block
that person from buying more.
How would police officials decide? Probably in consultation with a second new thing required by
the Marjory Stoneman Douglas act.
The law requires
school districts to
designate a “threat
assessment team” at
each school. The team
must include people
with expertise in mental health counseling, academic instruction, law enforcement and school administration. They are to meet monthly to review any potential threats to students and staff at the school.
If a threat assessment team believes a risk protection order is needed, district security or police resource officers could work through their agencies to secure it and disarm the threatening person – well before they take up arms against students.
“Our rights can’t be taken away without due process, but that doesn’t mean that if you don’t follow the law, that we can’t take steps,” said State Rep. Randy Fine,
R-Melbourne Beach. Fine explained his vote for the school-security act on an episode of “Brevard Watch” on BPS-TV.
“In the case of (shooter) Nikolas Cruz in Parkland, police would have been able to go to a court, present evidence that showed he was not mentally well and should not be in possession of weapons,” Fine said. “And if the judge agreed, the police could go and take those guns away. They couldn’t keep them forever – when the person proves he’s mentally fit, he can get his weapons back.”
The risk protection order would be noted in the background-check system for gun sales, temporarily
Click image to hear Rep. Randy Fine share his thoughts on school security act.
preventing a threatening person from rearming. People subject to the civil injunctions could be required by judges to undergo mental-health counseling or treatment before police would return their weapons.
Police across Florida have secured risk protection orders at least twice and have filed dozens more pending cases since Gov. Rick Scott signed the school safety act March 9.
In Orlando, police persuaded a judge to issue an order
against a University of Central Florida student, 21, who idolized Parkland shooter Cruz and Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock in an online forum. The student
was required to undergo mental health treatment and evaluation.
In Tallahassee, police secured a risk protection order against a 21-year-old man who had threatened to kill police officers and had twice been taken into custody. After two hearings, police seized two rifles from the man’s home including an AR-15 with 836 rounds of ammunition.
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