GREELEY (AP) – When longtime Colorado law-enforcement officer Del McFarland heard news of the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., he thought of schools here in Weld County, including the ones that two of his children attend.

McFarland said he wanted to find a way to change from responding after incidents happen to deterring and lessening the damage of an attack, and he asked fellow veteran officer Dan Thompson for help in developing an idea. The two formed the Rocky Mountain Guardian Angels, a nonprofit group of armed, off-duty officers who patrol schools in Ault and Pierce and who hope to patrol more schools in the county and state.

“As law enforcement, we’ve gotten really good at responding to these incidents, but we’ve got to get ahead of the situation,” McFarland said. “If we can get ahead of it, we can stop or mitigate the loss of life.”

McFarland and Thompson, along with four other officers, guard schools when they’re off-duty from their positions at the Colorado State Patrol. The Rocky Mountain Guardian Angels are not affiliated with the State Patrol.

McFarland, a 19-year veteran and corporal with the State Patrol, is a third-generation officer. Thompson served in Iraq as a U.S. Marine, in combat and guarding embassies and officials, and he’s served as a trooper for 15 years. Both have guarded presidents, governors and VIPs, and both are certified firearm instructors.

The two wanted to use their extensive backgrounds in law enforcement to protect “America’s most valuable resource,” as they put it.

“There are guards for bars of gold, banks, rock stars and VIPs,” Thompson said. “The schools are woefully unprotected.”

The Guardian Angels organization displays a sticker on windows at the schools to let people know they are there, but officers wear plain clothes, much like U.S. marshals, and drive their personal vehicles. They keep their weapons concealed. McFarland and Thompson said they want to keep a low profile without uniforms because they want kids in the school to feel comfortable approaching them.

“We don’t want to be the bad guys to these students,” McFarland said. “We want to make them feel that they can approach us with any credible threat.”

Their low profile also helps ensure that anyone planning an attack on the school doesn’t know exactly when they’re on campus and when they’re not.

The group is made up only of off-duty state troopers for now, but they hope to recruit officers from local agencies. They require officers to have at least five years of experience and impeccable shooting skills. Each member goes through extensive training. ‘”Not every police officer will meet our criteria,” Thompson said. “We’re not going to relax our standards.”

Robert Ring, superintendent of the Highland Re-9 School District in Ault, said when Thompson and McFarland came to him about standing guard in his schools, he didn’t want to make a decision based on emotions following the Sandy Hook tragedy.

After checking their backgrounds, working out insurance roadblocks and going through other administrative processes, Ring and the school board opted to allow Guardian Angels to begin patrolling this school year.

“I have two kids in here, and I personally feel better knowing that someone’s looking out for them,” Ring said. “I feel like if I want it for my kids, I should want it for all the kids in the district.”

Ring said he had some initial concerns from parents, most of whom just wanted more information, and the vast majority of parents support having the officers in the school. He said he was worried that the presence of officers would distract students, but he hasn’t seen any disruptions.

“I think this is the right approach,” Ring said.

Randy Yaussi, principal of Highland High School, said he hopes the school will never need the officers to take action, but he’s glad to know that they’re there, hopefully warding off would-be attackers. He said he’s been most impressed with the efforts McFarland and Thompson have made to get their organization up and running.

“They’re both guys who really have a heart for what they’re doing,” Yaussi said.

In addition to standing guard, the group works with the schools in assembling a threat-assessment team – including officers, attorneys and administrators – that would be able to decide on a course of action if a threat is reported.

The group also plans to organize classes and activities that would encourage students to make positive decisions.

Thompson said the Guardian Angels will not interfere with any existing school resource officers, and they won’t be addressing the same types of issues. They’ll focus on serious threats to the school that involve the risk of death or serious bodily injury.

Although the organization hopes to eventually pay their officers for guarding schools on their days off, current Guardian Angels are volunteering. McFarland and Thompson said because they’re not specifically affiliated with any agency or school, they are required to have their own insurance, which comes with a hefty price tag.

They’re hoping donations from parents and community members will help the organization to stay afloat and grow.

Thompson said he and McFarland didn’t want to wait for any agency’s approval, which may never come because of liability and cost. He said they both see a need in their community, and they want to take action immediately.

“We’re not going to stand by anymore,” Thompson said.