James D. DeCamp ©James D. DeCamp/JamesDeCamp.co
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Portraits of the New Albany City Council and senior staff members photographed Tuesday, March 19, 2019 at New Albany City Hall. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)
New Albany Police Chief Greg Jones, a 33-year officer with the New Albany Police Department who has served as chief for the last nine years, recently sat down to answer questions related to safety on the New Albany-Plain Local Schools campus. Given recent school tragedies nationwide, and having a gun physically brought to the school learning campus last year, student safety is likely on many parents’ minds as the new school year begins.
Scott McAfee: Talk about the partnerships the New Albany Police Department has with the New Albany-Plain Local Schools.
Chief Greg Jones: Having school resource officers (SROs) on campus almost every day throughout the school year has been foundational to our student safety efforts. Our school resource officers enhance safety around the entire school learning campus while providing opportunities for students and staff to have positive experiences that can lead to long-lasting relationships with the officers. Our SROs ensure that if something does happen, the NAPD response will be immediate. The SROs are also bike officers, allowing them to respond anywhere on campus by car or bike, whichever is faster. Additionally, the SROs have received specialized active shooter training and critical incident training.
Our school leaders are to be commended for staying committed to having SROs at a time when some school districts didn’t. Our City Council also deserves a lot of credit for 100% of SRO costs from the program’s inception through the 2021-22 school year.
SM: If there is a gunman on school campus (or a gun brought to campus), can you describe what the police response would be like?
CGJ: Our SROs will respond immediately on a moment’s notice, and they will receive back-up very quickly from other NAPD officers on duty. NAPD headquarters is less than a mile from any part of the school campus, and between that proximity and mutual aid of other agencies, the back-up response would occur very fast. And this is a critical component; It’s something we train for every year, not just as a department, but holistically with school staff and the Plain Township Fire Department as well.
SM: Tell us more about that training for a worst-case scenario between NAPD, the schools and Plain Township Fire.
CGJ: While I won’t get into any details of our planning or training, the community’s first responders partner with the schools and each other to be as ready as possible. We train together for a different active shooter simulation every year with school staff, including teachers. The New Albany-Plain Local School District is one of the few districts statewide that trains with an actual simulation annually. Additionally, our schools have a 147-page Emergency Operations Plan, jointly created by police, fire and school officials, that was formally approved by Ohio Homeland Security. Ohio Homeland Security also conducted a three-day campus safety audit and met with school, police and fire officials to review the confidential report for our continuous improvement. Aside from Ohio Homeland Security, Federal Homeland Security provides bus driver training to the district related to safety and security. Finally, Plain Township Fire is a fantastic partner by providing classroom tourniquet kits to the district and first-aid training to all New Albany-Plain Local School staff members. The fire department has also strategically placed citizen aid kits in high traffic areas on campus in the event of a real threat.
SM: What can residents do to promote safety at home?
CGJ: Safety starts at home. If guns are in a home, it is imperative that the adults keep those guns in a safe place that cannot be accessed by children. Lock boxes or locking gun cabinets are a good first step, and weapons training among the adults in the home is also very important. Parents shouldn’t be afraid to have tough conversations with other parents to understand if guns are in the home when it comes to things like sleepovers. Finally, whether on campus or at home, our students and school staff have taken strong ownership of the “see something, say something” school policy. These are all critical components that we must take ownership of to facilitate as safe of an environment on our school campus as possible.
