Schools beef up law enforcement presence
Published 2:40 pm Monday, December 17, 2012
- Cpl. Brian Odom of the Gardendale Police Department chats with children at Snow Rogers Elementary as they wait for parents to pick them up Monday afternoon. All schools in the Jefferson County system had law enforcement officers on campus today, as a result of the shootings at a school in Newtown, Conn. in which 20 children and six adults were murdered.
In the wake of the shootings at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. last week, Jefferson County Schools have increased security through at least the Christmas holidays.
The system, in conjunction with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, announced that at least one deputy would be stationed at each school through the week.
Many schools, especially high schools, have a regular law-enforcement presence through the year with school resource officers.
In some cases, city police are also providing added security. That’s the case at Snow Rogers Elementary, where principal Laura Ware said that a Gardendale Police officer is on duty.
Several other school systems in the metro area announced similar measures.
The stepped-up security comes after the killing of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday. A gunman killed his mother in her sleep at their home, stole several guns belonging to her, and used them to gun down the victims at the school.
