JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A local Senator is asking Missouri’s governor to implement officers specifically trained on school safety.

Sen. David Gregory (R-St. Louis County) formally sent a letter to Gov. Mike Kehoe Monday requesting a special or extraordinary session to “address the dramatically increasing gun violence against children.”

Within the letter, he proposes the Missouri Rangers, a group of highly trained officers that emphasize safety in schools.

“It’s time,” Gregory said. “It’s time for the state of Missouri to step up and be a leader in school safety across the country.”

Under Gregory’s proposal, a state police officer would be assigned to each and every K-12 school in Missouri, including private schools.

“It’s a whole new specialized elite police force called the Missouri Rangers,” Gregory said. “It’s designed to have every school—K through 12, public or private—to be assigned a Ranger.”

Gregory cited a Christian school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2023, adding that “it’s also time we legally acknowledge Christophobia, define it, and legislate solutions to stop the hatred and political violence towards Christians and schools.”

Additionally, the representative exclaimed that the safety of children cannot be ignored following the death of Charlie Kirk.

Executive Director of Missouri Police Chiefs Association Chief Robert Shockey said that they have trained nearly 100 new school resource officers this year, with around 350 attending their yearly conference.

Training to become a school resource officer requires a 40-hour class with the MOPCA. Officers can also attend advanced SRO class, which is 36 hours. Courses are taught three times a year.

“MOPCA supports any effort that will make our schools safer for the kids of Missouri and will continue to work with the Governor and all elected officials to make schools safe for all that attend them with any new legislation that may arise,” Shockey said.

When asked about current school resource officers, Gregory said rangers would be different.

“They’re going to be highly trained and specialized in school safety and school security,” Gregory said. “So things like lockdown techniques, behavioral observation and defensive tactics, emergency responses, (and) emergency preparedness.”

The GOP lawmaker says their role wouldn’t be exclusive to training for school shootings.

“We’re talking about  all aspects of potential dangers in schools,” he said. “You’re talking about first aid needs, tornado responses, flood response, fires, things like that.”

There is no fiscal note yet, but it could be costly.

Missouri has roughly 2,200 public schools and another 600 or so private schools. Using the starting salary of a new state trooper (about $58,000), Gregory’s plan to place a ranger in every school would cost taxpayers at least $162,000,000 a year.