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CMPD chief, CMS leaders at odds over metal detectors in schools

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte's police chief said Wednesday that adding metal detectors in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools is one answer to preventing violent attacks and keeping students safe at school.

But some school board members said that by doing that, it would destroy the sense of security for students.

“I'm a chief of police,” Chief Kerr Putney said. “I'll always get pushback. Good, I welcome it. But I want a thoughtful, reasonable consideration for what we can do to make them safer."

Putney stands behind his idea to keep schools safe by restricting entry to just one door and putting metal detectors at every entrance.

“Everybody talks about philosophical ways to address things and political ways,” Putney said. “What we're looking at is practical solutions."

Some school board members said the plan could hurt children.

School Board members Ericka Ellis-Stewart and Carol Sawyer said the plan could make schools feel like detention centers.

"I wouldn’t want my child to feel like they have to be inspected every time they enter their school building,” Sawyer said.

“Do you want the kids to be safe in school or do you want us to worry about an image?” Putney said.

Sawyer also said that the plan isn't feasible because there are thousands of students at some schools and many of them have multiple buildings.

Teacher and parent Kelly Bell is also skeptical.

“If somebody is bound and determined to come in and hurt, they're going to find a way to do it," Bell said.

Others said the chief's idea is one step in the right direction.

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“We can't just have armed officers and just assume kids are going to be taught gun safety and respect for human life at home,” parent Gina Smith said.

“What I know is, if guns never come into a school, we don't have to worry about the shootings,” Putney said.

Putney said funding is a huge key to bringing this idea to light and he has been working with the superintendent on safety changes.

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