Discussions spread on school safety

On Dec. 15, the day after the horrific shootings in Newtown, Conn., Shelby County Sheriff Chris Curry said he watched parents cry as they dropped their children off at school. He was moved, so he called his department to action.

“I told (the officers) that we are going to be at the schools for the psychological well being of parents, teachers and students,” Curry said.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) assembled a plan to keep officers in every school in the Shelby County District for the remainder of the 2012-2013 school year, but the department was denied the additional funding it needed. Curry was undeterred and assigned officers to the 11 schools in the district.

“We’re going to protect the schools,” he said. “Period. We may need to cut back some of our other services – some only a little, and some more significantly. But we have to show teachers and parents that their children are in a safe environment.”

Now, following a terrifying incident at Chelsea Middle School, Curry said his resolve to keep schools safe is stronger than ever.

On Feb. 12, Chelsea Middle School initiated a lockdown after it was reported that a man armed with a gun was holding five female students against their will in the girls’ locker room. Over the course of the next few minutes, the deputy and principal talked the gunman into releasing the students and then surrendering himself.

Ryan Matthew Sims, a 21-year-old Chelsea resident; was charged in the incident on five counts of kidnapping first degree and one charge of terrorist threats. He remains in the Shelby County Jail.

Curry said the deputy assigned to the school was vital in diffusing the situation thanks to special training he received to be certified as a school resource officer.

Across the Birmingham area, the issue of how to provide proper protection for children in schools has been both discussed and acted on. On Tuesday, Jan. 8, the Hoover City Council approved an additional $100,000 for the Hoover Police Department to hire four temporary, full-time officers through the end of the school year, which ends September 2013. This will permit the department to place one officer in every school through the entirety of the school day.

“The big thing is, this will create a comfort level for teachers, parents and students,” Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey said. “We want to be proactive instead of reactive in these situations; it’s something we feel they deserve.”

The next day, Shelby County Schools Superintendent Randy Fuller and Hoover City Schools Superintendent Andy Craig joined superintendents from across the Birmingham area to discuss school safety – specifically the plans in place to deal with scenarios similar to the shootings in Newtown.

School district leaders heard from Alabama Department of Homeland Security Director Spencer Collins at the Jefferson County Board of Education. Topics presented there included the Department’s new Run Hide Fight campaign, which encourages civilians to understand and employ a “survival mindset” during what Collins termed an “active shooter event.”

“The days of being passive and of laying there and being a victim are over,” Collier said. “When all else fails, you have to take action yourself.”

Collier said Run Hide Fight, which was presented in a video shown at the meeting, is part of a three-phase component of school safety being rolled out by Homeland Security that the department was developing in response to 2012 shootings in a Colorado movie theater.

The first item on the agenda is to raise the number of Alabama law enforcement officers who have active shooter training. Currently, Collier said, only 27 percent are, and the financial requirement to train the other 73 percent is minimal in comparison to the benefit of having a population of public servants who know how to behave in dire situations.

The Department’s second phase is to educate the public on safety plans for active shooter events and, third, to employ the use of Virtual Alabama, a Google Earth-based program that permits layers of pertinent information to be placed over school sites.

Law enforcement and medical personnel will have access to the plans via Internet connections and can see on-scene where gathering areas, hazardous materials, escape routes and more are located at each school. For those with a series of passwords, Virtual Alabama also allows remote access to in-school cameras.

“It’s unfortunate that Newtown, Conn. happened,” Collier said. “It’s unfortunate Colorado happened. If there’s a positive, it’s that it’s fresh on our minds. We cannot lose this opportunity.”