The coordination between regulation enforcement and college officers in Montgomery County — together with the preliminary report from a witness — was credited for averting a possible disaster after an 18-year-old student was charged with making a menace of mass violence focusing on Wootton High School in Rockville.
The coordination between regulation enforcement and college officers in Montgomery County — together with the preliminary report from a witness — was credited for averting a possible disaster after an 18-year-old student was charged with making a menace of mass violence focusing on Wootton High School in Rockville, Maryland.
The incident got here per week after Montgomery County Public Schools heard from student college board member Sami Saeed who urged the board to maneuver sooner on college safety. At that assembly, Saeed cited his personal survey of college students and stated that many felt nothing was being executed to cope with their considerations about safety in their very own colleges.
During a information convention concerning the arrest of 18-year-old Alex Ye, Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones was requested if he believed that faculty useful resource officers (SROs) ought to be introduced again.
Jones stated, “Our officers are dedicated to being in these colleges when wanted and being seen when required.”
After the information convention, Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy informed WTOP he had by no means supported eradicating SROs from the faculties. He stated he at present will get messages from mother and father and group members detailing fights and even movies taken by college students inside colleges.
“I can’t assist however imagine that some of the violent assaults that we’re seeing in our colleges which can be being photographed by different children — and these are fairly vicious assaults — wouldn’t happen if a police officer was on college property,” he stated.
At the identical information convention, Montgomery County Council member Will Jawando, who heads the council’s Public Safety Committee, stated he doesn’t see the necessity to restore SROs.
He stated that police haven’t disappeared from colleges below the group engagement officers (CEO) mannequin. “I see our CEOs lively in the faculties.” The distinction with the brand new mannequin, Jawando stated, is “they’re not patrolling the hallways, they’re not there all day. But if there’s a problem, they’re proper there.”
On Friday, Kennedy High School Principal Vickie Adamson despatched a letter residence to oldsters explaining {that a} trespasser had entered the varsity throughout lunch and “brandished a knife.” According to Adamson’s letter, safety disarmed the trespasser, and the varsity’s CEO was “already on college grounds, and safety shortly alerted her to the scenario.”
In 2021, the SRO program, which positioned officers in a single college full-time, was eradicated.
Under the present program, the CEOs are assigned to a single highschool cluster, have entry to a workspace and reply “when known as upon by the varsity management,” in response to a Montgomery County Public Schools survey on the subject.
Get breaking information and every day headlines delivered to your e-mail inbox by signing up right here.
© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This web site will not be meant for customers situated throughout the European Economic Area.
