BUFFALO, N.Y. — The deadly school shooting in Florida has a renewed a call for more school resource officers in New York State.
Just last week, the New York State Sheriff's Association said it wants to see more armed officers in schools.
The Buffalo Police Department has nine officers, a lieutenant, and a chief that patrol and answer calls in the Buffalo Public School's 61 schools and also at nearly two dozen charter and private schools in the city.
Lt. Gail Allen said she and her team go from school to school — necessary to answer all of the calls but not ideal when it comes to one-on-one interaction with students.
"I wish we had more time to communicate with them. Sometimes I feel like we're rushing from one school to another. I don't want that student to feel like, 'oh that just ended, and I thought she was going to help me. I thought he was going to help me,'" said Lt. Allen.
Lt. Allen said putting an officer at every school in Buffalo would take at least 1/10 of her department.
Another challenge facing school resource officers is trying to monitor social media for threats.
Buffalo Police have upcoming training that will help to familiarize officers with the different apps and websites and teach them what they should look for.
The department said they re-evaluate their plans for lockdowns and active shooter situations regularly, especially after violent situations happen in other parts of the country.
They are also upgrading their school camera system. There are cameras in each of the 61 public schools. Officers can watch real time feeds or go back and review video. After the upgrade officers will be able to access the cameras from their patrol vehicles.