Kids are key to preventing violence

Students are the key asset in preventing incidents of school violence. They are aware of troubled students' behavior before adults are, and they can alert authorities before trouble becomes tragedy.

"The kids are probably our best resource," said Captain Tim Edwards of the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office during a school workshop on safety held January 23.

Edwards referred to a New York police department study that he had just received and brought with him to the meeting. The report was current through December's notorious Newtown shooting and covered 270 shootings over the last 46 years (1966 through 2012).

"Only 25 percent were school shootings, with the 'typical' shooting results in zero to two dead, and zero to two wounded," said Edwards. "Newtown was really an aberration."

Edwards noted that, "In the New York study 37 potential incidents were thwarted in advance by other kids and teachers. I'm not on Facebook but the kids are. It is the kids' behavior that we watch."

The lightly attended meeting was set up as a panel with three local deputy sheriffs answering questions from the audience. Panelists Edwards, Deputy Scott Shelton and Deputy Don Pray are long-time Sisters residents, with deep ties to the community.

Pray has been the School Resource Officer (SRO) since 2006. Shelton was the first SRO for the district back in 2001. Shelton and Superintendent Jim Golden were the initial members of the multi-county Safe Schools Alliance when Golden was a teacher and an assistant principal in Sisters.

Golden set the tone of the meeting by stating that the discussion would be on the single subject of school safety, not a discussion of Second Amendment rights. His request was honored.

"Newtown is on everybody's mind because it was so recent and so tragic," said Captain Edwards. "But the game-changer for law enforcement was Columbine, 13 years ago. Columbine changed how every police department in America responds to school shootings. We have been practicing that for 13 years. Newtown really changes nothing for us."

Identifying potential troubled students in light of privacy restrictions was a concern voiced by several parents at the meeting.

Shelton said, "SROs come to all (school) staff meetings. If a student is identified as a concern, we all know of the concern. As deputies, if we are concerned we will often do a 'welfare check' by going (to the student's home) and knocking on the door and asking 'How is it going?'"

"Another layer up," continued Shelton, "because of the Safe Schools Alliance, we (the deputies) can take a student out of school and have him quickly in front of a judge, and the community has no idea that it has even happened."

Speaking to the sharing of staff or SRO concerns about a student's behavior, Superintendent Golden said, "If a teacher needs to know and it is important for the kid's educational progress or for the safety of other kids - we let the teachers know."

Pray noted that when he started in 2006, the primary concerns were about parking-lot safety. He expressed the need for adults to be paying attention.

"With all the cuts of teachers and other staff there are simply not enough eyes in the hallways," he said. "We have to be diligent about what we do, keeping exterior doors closed and keeping sightlines clear."

Shelton recalled the initial community concern about putting law enforcement into the school setting.

"As the first SRO in 2001, there was a lot of (public) resistance to having an armed police officer in the schools," said Shelton. The community also chose not to "harden" Sisters High School.

"When we were building this school (SHS) the community made the choice to cut back on the hardwiring for the school," Shelton recalled. "The community did not want to go down that road (security cameras and lock-down hardware)."

Golden was challenged by several parents on the district's intent to have all three schools posted as "Gun Free Zones." Pray noted that if the signage was not in place, it would be difficult for the SRO to justify escorting gun-carrying individuals off campus.

"I want to get the signage on the doors that we have gun-, weapon-, drug- and alcohol-free schools," said Golden. "If we become aware that someone, even with a concealed carry permit, is on the campus with a gun, we will ask them to leave the school grounds. Unless they are a retired police officer or other well-trained professional, we would rather not have them on campus (with a gun)."

All three officers indicated their preference to have fewer guns on campus rather than more. Shelton also pointed out that as part of their protocol, during an incident they have to account for the location and disposition of all guns on campus.

For more information on the Safe School Alliance visit http://www.hdesd.org/services/safe-school-alliance/about-ssa.