The Los Angeles police department and county sheriff's department , along with at least a dozen other law enforcement agencies in the county, plan to increase patrols every day at all public schools and any private schools that request them. That's in addition to the existing patrols by Los Angeles school police. Other local school districts across the Southland are also ramping up their security.
The increased security is in response to the mass school shooting in Newtown, Conn., in December that left 20 children and six adults dead.
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck said during a news conference last month that a barrier had been broken in our culture and that "it's all our jobs to make sure that we resurrect that barrier and that our children are safe."
"I think more security will make people feel better," said parent Kim Amer."Right now, when these types of things are going on, you can't have too much security."
Other local parents said they already felt comfortable with the level of security at schools.
"We want it to be cautious but we don't want to change the environment so that the kids get scared and we don't want, certainly, not to come to the point that they have to go through a metal detector in order to go to school," said parent Siamak Rouz.
Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy, School President Monica Garcia and School Police Chief Steve Zipperman are expected to visit to elementary schools Monday.
City News Service contributed to this report.
