Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale on Thursday announced a new comprehensive school safety plan to ensure the safety and security of all the county’s students, faculty and staff.
Core elements of Hale’s plan include placing a School Resource Deputy (SRO) in every Jefferson County school – elementary, middle and high – and forming an assessment team within the School Resource Division to identify students who exhibit specific behavioral patterns that may indicate a need for assistance.
“This is a great day for Jefferson County students, their parents and school staffs and ensures our students are as safe as possible. It also reinforces that Jefferson County is leading the nation in school safety,” Hale said in a statement.
Shortly after its inception in 1999, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office School Resource Division was named as a model for other law enforcement agencies across the nation.
Chief Deputy Randy Christian noted, “This new plan will serve to reinforce our position as a national leader in school safety.”
Last year, deputies with the School Resource Division investigated eighty-one felonies and two hundred sixty-nine misdemeanors, including twenty-five Terrorist Threat investigations.
There are currently twenty-five SROs serving fifty-six schools in Jefferson County. This includes a K9 handler who floats between all the schools for searches.
Hale plans to hire thirty-one contract deputies to supplement the current staff. This would place sheriff’s office personnel in every school rather than a single SRO being responsible for and roving between high schools and feeder schools.
This new initiative will be partially funded via a partnership between the county school system and the sheriff’s budget.
The deputies hired will be recently retired law enforcement officers with current APOSTC certification. Hale’s office will host training for the new SROs through the National School Resource Officers Association which will include both the Basic SRO Training Course and the Advanced SRO Training Course.
Thus far, nineteen applicants already have been selected. More are needed.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office encourages APOST Certified Alabama law enforcement officers, who are retired and in good standing, to apply by contacting their Internal Affairs Division at 205-325-5709.
Hale’s school safety plan also calls for a “Threat Assessment Team” to identify patterns of troubling behavior and provide resources for managing students who exhibit them. This multidisciplinary team will be comprised of an investigator from the sheriff’s office, a member of the Jefferson County Board of Education and a mental health worker.
At least two private schools and one city are aware of Hale’s new safety plan and are currently negotiating with the sheriff’s office to provide SROs for their campuses, as well.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
