Debate Renewed Over Campus Metal Detectors

In the wake of Thursday’s shootings at Fairfax High School, parents and school officials are again debating extreme measures--notably installing metal detectors on high school campuses.

“Our children are frightened to go back to school. We need something to protect them,” said Frankie Leigh, guardian of a junior at Fairfax High, where a 15-year-old remedial English student killed one classmate and wounded another in a morning class.

Los Angeles school board member Roberta Weintraub said Thursday that she supports installing doorway detectors at schools that have continuing weapons problems, but she noted that a majority of the board does not agree. “I fear a lot more kids may be killed in the schools before the (board) gets the picture,” she said.

School board member Barbara Boudreaux said that because of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s shaky finances and its immense size, she doubts that detectors could be installed at many campuses. “I wish we could have it at every classroom door, but we can’t afford it at this time,” she said.

During the 1991-92 school year, 1,403 weapons--including 405 guns--were confiscated at school facilities in the 640,000-student Los Angeles district, according to statistics compiled by the district. The number of guns confiscated was up about 27% from the previous year.

The district uses hand-held metal detectors at some athletic and social events, said Herbert Graham, director of police and administrative services. But having airport-style devices at campus entrances for everyday use would be impractical and would not prevent weapons from being smuggled through windows or over fences, he said.

“I don’t think metal detectors in themselves are the complete answer. We have to look at a broader view,” Graham said, referring to gun control and programs that address gangs and other societal problems.

Nationwide, however, an increasing number of school districts are turning to such devices.

Some critics are having second thoughts after hearing recent reports that schools are successfully using metal detectors in New York City, Washington and elsewhere. “Now we are sort of rethinking our position,” said Robert Rubel, executive director of the National Alliance for Safe Schools, a think tank for school police groups that previously opposed the devices.

Doorway metal detectors were placed in 40 New York City schools this year after several fatal shootings. New York officials could not be reached Thursday for statistics on recent confiscations or assaults, but Rubel said the devices have helped to calm the New York campuses. Washington, Detroit and Philadelphia schools are also using them.

Rubel said his organization used to consider the detectors a “lose-lose” idea, giving parents a false sense of security while creating a needlessly menacing atmosphere at schools.

The use of hand-held metal detectors in particular is on the rise at sports and social events because “far more kids are willing to take the risk” of carrying weapons, and games and dances can be more volatile than classrooms, said Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center, a unit of Pepperdine University. The hand-held detectors usually cost less than $200, a 10th of the price of the walk-through units, Stephens said.

Rising interest in California is reflected in a recent formal opinion by state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, who said metal detectors may be used in schools without violating civil rights. Lungren did not recommend them, but said schools should consider detectors if appropriate. The 50 school districts across the country that use detectors are having “almost universally positive” experience in keeping weapons off campus, Lungren said.

Citing statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Education Assn. issued a report last week saying that about 100,000 students across the country bring guns to school each day. The association, which represents teachers, called on the federal government to increase spending on school security, including metal detectors, and on counseling and other programs to reduce campus crimes.

“We really see detectors as a last resort,” NEA spokesman Charles Ericksen said. “But there may be some communities where nothing else works.”