This Texas school district is considering setting up its own police force. Over 200 others already have.
Produced by Alexander Stockton, Joshua hersh, amanda pisetzner
VICE News Tonight on HBO
ROUND ROCK, Texas — J.J. Strong has been a cop at Round Rock High, near Austin, for four years. His job involves roaming the halls on the lookout for kids causing trouble, like starting fights, smoking weed, or just generally being up to no good. And all the while, he's constantly thinking about what he'd do if someone burst into the school with a gun.
Officer Strong is a school resource officer, a part of a program that dates to the 1950s and has grown rapidly in the past few years. But in the post-Parkland era, the Round Rock Independent School District is one of many considering a self-contained, in-house police department, something 248 other districts in the state have already done — 34 in the last year alone.
