Congressman Don Bacon (NE-02) released the following statement regarding his recent co-sponsorship of H.R. 4909, the STOP (Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing) School Violence Act:

“Our schools need to have resources to protect our nation’s children. Tragically, there were missteps by law enforcement agencies to properly flag and take seriously these warnings.  This act provides crucial funding for training of students, teachers, and law enforcement to properly identify signs of violence and understand how to prevent it. Streamlining school and local law enforcement violence prevention efforts are also crucial to ensure the safety of our nation’s children. This is just the first step to make substantial changes to school safety and I am committed to identifying more.”

The STOP School Violence Act authorizes funding for: 

• Evidence-based investments for development and operation of FBI and Secret Service based school threat assessment teams to better assist schools before tragedy strikes 
• Implementation of anonymous reporting systems for students in coordination with local law enforcement
• Training and technical assistance for students, school personnel, and law enforcement to identify signs of violence and understand how to prevent it 
• Aligning school and local law enforcement efforts
• Measures at the discretion of the Director that may provide significant improvement in school security