DECATUR -- The Uvalde, Texas, school shooting on May 24 has some parents and school officials questioning the security of their own facilities and the ability of local law enforcement to protect kids, faculty and staff.
Decatur Police Chief Steven Grizzle, in a news release dated May 31, said his department -- like those in Gravette, Gentry, Highfill, Centerton and many others around Northwest Arkansas -- trains and stands ready to face incidents like the one in Uvalde.
"It is a very sad day for our nation and, as a parent and law enforcement officer, I feel the anger, hurt and a multitude of other emotions because of the incident that occurred in Texas," Grizzle wrote. "It can happen anywhere, and it has happened in multiple areas.
"While we don't want to see this type of incident in our area, we train for the worst case [scenario] in hopes we will be able to react properly if we need to. We always invite all area agencies to our training, and many of them actively participate in these training sessions. This is a good thing since most of the agencies that train with us would also be responding to any call for assistance from our agency."
He said the Decatur Police Department has responded to a few calls for assistance from schools, "and we have a good response time -- something with which I believe our school administrators would agree."
Even with a three-minute response, he said a lot can happen in that short time, so his department is working with the Decatur School District and the Decatur City Council to have a school resource officer at the schools during operations, including games and special events.
"Our police department will still react to any calls for assistance, but we will have an SRO on the scene within seconds instead of minutes," Grizzle wrote. "The SRO will not only train with our department, and other departments, but the SRO will also develop safety plans for his specific school and train with the staff of that school. The SRO will build relationships with the kids of the school and have knowledge of who is a possible threat and who needs intervention or assistance. The SRO not only has to be certified and an Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy graduate, but also is required to complete additional specialized training.
The city and School Board, with the guidance of the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education and the University of Arkansas Criminal Justice Institute, now have a memorandum of understanding in place to have a full-time school resource officer in place at Decatur schools for the upcoming school year.