Ex-NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly slams Trump's idea to arm teachers

Former NYPD top cop Ray Kelly took to the air waves on Sunday to reject President Trump's idea to arm teachers in schools.

"Teachers should teach. Law enforcement should protect," the former police commissioner said on John Catsimatidis's show "The Cats Roundtable."

Kelly, who spent nearly 50 years climbing the ranks of the NYPD, also said he was "certainly encouraged" to see that Trump was willing to discuss reform measures such as raising the age at which a person can purchase a gun to 21 and mental illness screening.

"He even talked about — which surprised me — the possibility of an assault-weapons ban. The President is a powerful force, a powerful voice," Kelly said. "The fact that he was open to discussing such ideas, I think, was encouraging. The public wants something done. The horrific events in Parkland… have really galvanized a lot of support for action."

Kelly argued that schools should leave the job of protecting students up to professional law enforcement agencies. "I know there's been a discussion about arming teachers," he said. "As a general policy, I would say no."

The former commish proposed a multi-faceted approach to keeping schools safe, including active-shooter drills.

"There's no single solution. This is a complex problem," Kelly added. "I think a series of things, sort of a layered approach, can be very helpful to forestalling these types of events or responding more effectively if, God forbid, they happen."