By Natalia Galicza
Source South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Just days after the mass school shooting in Texas, the new police chief for Palm Beach County schools is assuring parents that officers will act quickly if there were ever such a threat locally.
“When we become aware of an emergency on campus, our officers are trained to go immediately in to address the situation,” Chief Sarah Mooney said in a newly released video emailed to parents Thursday night.
The Palm Beach County School District shared its latest efforts to address school security after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The actions of officers who responded to the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Texas on May 24 have fallen under scrutiny, with an official last week saying it “was the wrong decision” not to take more decisive action in confronting the shooter. It wasn’t until federal agents entered the scene that the shooter was shot and killed. By that time, 19 students and two teachers had died.
With its newly released video, the Palm Beach County School District offered a behind-the-scenes look at its center that can instantly call up surveillance footage for the district’s 236 schools, giving first responders real-time information of what’s happening at any campus. The district also announced a focus on mental health services and in-service training for school officers.
Palm Beach County School District Superintendent Mike Burke also appears in the video. He said the district’s schools are in full compliance with the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act.
The act, established in 2018, is currently awaiting approval from Gov. Ron DeSantis for renewal. It mandates an increased focus on mental health services in schools across Florida.
All school grounds in the district contain threat-assessment teams, live security cameras along the inside and outside of campuses and at least one full-time Palm Beach School Police officer and behavioral specialist.
The school district, which is the 10th largest in the nation, has agreements with 35 community agencies to provide support for students who are referred to receive mental health services.
Mooney, a lifetime Palm Beach County resident who last month was sworn in as the new chief, said the school district’s police force will continue training on how to prevent and stop school shootings.
In an emergency situation, school district officers must immediately report to the scene. Officers receive annual in-service training independently as well as in groups. “Everyone is responsible for the safety of everyone on the campuses,” Mooney said.
Of the changes made to navigating school security across the county, one of the most notable developments is the Real Time Command Center at the District Headquarters in West Palm Beach.
Security cameras across all Palm Beach County schools feed live footage to the headquarters. The real-time glimpse into district schools is meant to strengthen preventative measures or, in the case of an emergency, encourage more efficient communication of developments as they unfurl.
In recent years, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office also has discussed how thousands of security cameras help keep watch of public schools, part of the response after the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
In Palm Beach County, the officers at the command center are able to communicate with any full-time officer stationed at any district school. Campus maps and direct lines to other dispatch operation centers also allow officers within the command center the ability to communicate with officers or first responders from other jurisdictions who arrive to assist on the scene.
Other preventative measures including FortifyFL, an anonymous crime reporting tool for students and staff to submit tips of possible school safety threats, arose out of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act. FortifyFL and Saferwatch, another reporting tool, are available for free mobile download.
As school police officers continue to train over the summer, Palm Beach County students can hope to return to safer schools in August.
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