This is another in a series of stories exploring violence in schools.

Ninety-eight percent of people will run away when they hear gunshots, according to retired Army Lt. Col. David Grossman.

The exceptional 2 percent are police officers, who race toward them at excessive speeds.

But unlike most police officers, the school officers at the Guns & Kids conference on campus this week usually work just feet from the shots.

“You’re living in the most violent times during peacetime today,” Grossman said, opening the conference Tuesday. “You don’t have to go back to the Wild West to find the most violent times in history.”

More than 170 officers are attending the three-day conference, which includes speakers like Grossman, law reviews and a presentation of a gun-safety curriculum for all ages.

“If a kid has brought a gun to school, it has to be dealt with decisively,” said Grossman, author of two books about violence among children. “If somebody tells you they’re thinking about suicide, you’ve got a moral obligation. You have the same moral obligation if they say they’re going to commit an act of violence.”

Grossman said schools should place metal detectors randomly around the buildings, enforce strict dress codes and allow school officers to carry guns.

“If they never know where the metal detectors or officers are going to be, that’s part of the deterrence,” he said. “It’s going to be harder and harder to catch these kids. What we need to do is get to the heart of why they want to do this.

“You think the kid who is thinking of doing this is in high school now, in the college the next year and in the workplace the next.”

With his experience as the director of public safety for the Grand Rapids School District, Larry Johnson said continued education is essential for school officers - although he doubts all districts will use metal detectors or carry weapons.

“It drives home the point,” Johnson said. “I think we live in a day and age when schools focus on violence. We need to have more educators in here.”

Grand Rapids has had a school safety program for 27 years, second in the state only to Flint. About 40 officers tend to 79 buildings in the district.

“I think legislators sometimes overreact,” Johnson said. “They need to go back to the people in the schools like us.”

But some say school safety curriculums and legislation need to dig even deeper.

“I still think the best metal detectors are the kids themselves,” said Glenn Stutzky, a school violence course instructor at MSU and a social work graduate student. “If kids view police officers only there strictly to enforce the law and arrest people who break the law, they’re not seeing them as a mentor or an older friend who is interested in their education.”

Despite the differing ideas about education and prevention, Michigan State police Sgt. Dave Wood said conference organizers will have to wait until fall to view the effectiveness of programs like Guns & Kids.

State police conference organizers are hoping to receive funds in the future to host programs like this in the future.

“(Students) know a police officer isn’t going to hurt them,” he said. “But it’s hard to measure anything until they’re back in school.”

Jamie Gumbrecht can be reached at gumbrec1@msu.edu.