Mosqueda 1 Maximilian Mosqueda Kubler, Inst.

English 114B 25, February 2014 Can We Trust The Safety of Public Spaces? Times are changing in the world we live in now and it seems like every day we hear more and more tragedies of people being shot and killed by maniacs in public places. This has become a major issue in America involving public places. Many people now live in fear because they feel they will witness these tragedies first hand and experience it themselves. We need to make people feel safe again in public spaces. What I propose is that we increase heavier security in these public places to make people feel safer and comfortable. America needs to increase heavy security in public spaces creating a safe environment for people making them feel at ease. We need to increase security in public and private schools to prevent bringing firearms on campus and to prevent massacres from happening in our schools. More and more schools are becoming less safe because of random school shootings. In the video History Day 2011 Documentary - Columbine High School Massacre it is explained that two high school students went to Columbine High School, they were both seniors there. They walked inside the school cafeteria with two duffle bags and put them under a table contained firearms and it clearly shows how easily these kids came onto campus carrying firearms without anybody questioning them about the duffle bags. If this school had security on campus I believe it would have been harder to get these firearms in without suspicion. With heavier security maybe these kids would not have gone through this killing spree. Anybody could go onto any campus and just start shooting. These students wont be able to focus worrying that they might be next. How will kids

Mosqueda 2 come to learn if they dont even feel safe in their own school? We need to make sure that we provide students with a safe and protected environment to learn in. Schools used to be a place to learn and feel safe. If we increase security in schools children will be safe and we can prevent school shooting from happening. Anybody could walk into a public school with no questions asked and just start killing off random innocent students. This was this situation of Sandy Hooks Elementary School one November morning. ABC news reporter states in the video Tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School: What Happened During Newtown, Connecticut Shooting? That a man in black enters with a vest and multiple weapons and begins a massacre. How will we feel safe for our children when they are at school but any person can just walk in and begin murdering innocent little children? Nobody ever wants to get the call that a shooting has occurred at your childs school. We cant just let anybody walk on to school premises without knowing what they want or what they are doing here. Many parents have been affected by this now fearing for their childrens safety but to end this we must increase security in these public zones and make sure we know who comes in and out of that zone. When I was in high school I felt safer when there was police officers patrolling the school and there was only one way to enter and exit through the school after class had begun. I thought that was a good idea how these police officers were always there taking care of all the students and making sure there wasnt any problems. I felt safe with them just being there and I believe every public area should have a form of armed authority to protect the people in these areas in case of an attack. As in the video A day-in-the-life of a Boise Police School Resource Officer! We see police officer swift creating a safe and happy environment for the students of Riverglen Jr. Highs School. These students look like they feel safe because of this officer patrolling and

Mosqueda 3 making sure these kids are safe. I believe that is very important to let students know they can come to school knowing they are safe and the school is there home and it will protect them.

When people are in danger in these public spaces they need help right away. Sometimes the police cant respond in time. If we had security already at the scene we could save innocent lives from being taken. At a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises a man shot and killed many innocent victims in this movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Police Chief Dan Oates states in the video Officials from Aurora, Colo., Give News Conference on Theater Shooting within roughly one minute to a minute and a half police officers were on scene to me that is enough time to make the damage. The damage was done and too many lives were lost within that minute. Police got there too late and many people lost their lives. If there was security at the scene many lives could have been saved. I could relate to having fear or looking over my shoulder in public places. I am a big movie goer but once I heard about the shooting in Aurora, Colorado I dont feel safe as I used to in these movie theaters and I became a bit paranoid. It ruins the mood of kicking back and relaxing through a two hour film, now I keep my guard up making sure no one is doing anything out of the usual. Now they have a warning before the film to warn the usher if we see funny activity and to make sure where we know where the exits are just in case of an emergency. If we increase security I know that I and a lot more people will feel safer in movie theaters. Some people might argue if we increase security in public places that it wont change a thing, people will still be living in fear and maniacs will still find a way to hurt and kill people in public spaces. I see how people can argue about that but I know that with security around it is

Mosqueda 4 harder for an attack to be made. People who are looking to hurt innocent people usually attack places that have little to no security making it easier for the maniac to commence their attack. I am sure if we increase security these maniacs will think twice about attacking these public places and maybe not attack. If they do attack there will still be an authority figure to stop the attack. To me if there was security in public places I would feel safer. If we increase security in public places people will feel more at ease and more comfortable in these places. They wont have to fear for their lives, therefore spending more and more time outside. If they spend more time in public places maybe now people will develop a sort of trust and feel safe knowing that no one will come and do them harm because they are being looked after by a form of authority. I know I would feel safer and at ease if I knew there was help just a few feet away.

Mosqueda 5 Works Cited

ABC News. Tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School: What Happened During Newtown, Connecticut Shooting?Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. Boisepolice. A day-in-the-life of a Boise Police School Resource Officer! Online video clip. Youtube. YouTube, 5 Feb. 2010. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. MissingInventory. History Day 2011 Documentary - Columbine High School Massacre. Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 9 Apr. 2011. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. PBS NewsHour. Officials from Aurora, Colo., Give News Conference on Theater Shooting. Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 20 July 2012. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.

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