Armed guards are “no panacea” for shootings at houses of worship, former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said Sunday. President Trump has suggested that sentries with…
Armed guards are “no panacea” for shootings at houses of worship, former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said Sunday.
President Trump has suggested that sentries with guns “ might have been able to stop ” mad man Robert Bowers before he shot dead 11 people inside a Pittsburgh synagogue Saturday — but lawman Kelly is not so sure.
“I don’t know about armed guards,” he said on the “Cats Roundtable” radio show. “That armed guard could be the first person killed. You had four police officers wounded yesterday. There is no panacea.”
Instead Kelly said active-shooter drills are the best defense against violent extremists.
“In Europe, when I visit these synagogues, they have pretty comprehensive plans. The secret is to exercise those plans. Practice those plans,” he said.
Observers have warned that anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe, but Kelly, who has traveled the continent advising on counter-terror, said the massacre was a “shocking” display of hatred that overshadows hate activity on the other side of the Atlantic.
“When I saw what happen in Pittsburgh yesterday, it makes what happens over here [in Europe] pale in comparison,” he said.
