Southern Indiana law enforcement focusing on safety, response ahead of new school year
Jul. 21—SOUTHERN INDIANA — School safety is on the minds of Southern Indiana law enforcement officials as school will start up again soon.
Last week the Clark County Sheriff's Office conducted active shooting training at Riverside Elementary School in Jeffersonville.
Chief Deputy Scottie Maples said it's a training that's been conducted for years by the department, and one that received positive feedback from residents after he shared photos on social media.
"I guess the general population doesn't know how we train and when they saw the response in Uvalde, I just want to re-enforce to citizens here in Clark County that our officers will be going in (if there's an active shooter,)" Maples said. "A lot of people reached out personally and on Facebook...thanking us for letting them know that."
The training was lead by CCSO Major Dave Tenney.
It started with officers watching video from the shooting in Uvalde, Texas and then meticulously going through how to respond to an incident.
This included how officers should safely enter a building, check rooms for a threat and react if they come across a shooter.
Tenney trained the officers for multiple situations that they could encounter, answering questions and giving clear instructions on what to do.
Maples said he talked to Tenney about his thoughts on the video of the police response in Uvalde.
"His first response was it was a lack of training," Maples said. "It's unfortunate we had to do this training and it's something the Clark County Sheriff's Office has done for years. I am happy our department has taken a proactive stance on this."
The CCSO has school resource officers at Silver Creek Primary School, Silver Creek Elementary School, Henryville Elementary and High School, New Washington Elementary and High School, Borden Elementary and High School, Charlestown High School and Rock Creek School.
In Clarksville, Police Chief Mark Palmer said officers also train for these types of events.
Palmer said the events in Uvalde, Texas were tragic.
"What I look at is, what are we doing here, locally, to make sure this does not happen here," he said.
The department has two school resource officers that help in schools in the town. They are able to build relationships with students at the schools they serve, Palmer said.
Officer Chris Bartley is located within Clarksville Community Schools and Officer Ernie Fox works within Greater Clark County Schools.
The implementation has been helpful for schools and the department.
"On the police department side what we are seeing is a decrease in the amount of calls that officers have to respond to," Palmer said.
The SROs are building relationships with students, Palmer said, meaning they get one-on-one contact and the officers are involved in school activities.
"They're seen as more of a personal figure instead of an authority figure," Palmer said. "They can reach out to them on a more personal level."
CPD also has access to the surveillance cameras at Clarksville Community Schools.
"That puts eyes on (a situation) even before you arrive at the scene," Palmer said.
Both Palmer and Maples said anyone who suspects a person could be planning an attack should contact law enforcement.
"I don't think any sign is too small," Palmer said, adding people should report red flags like people making comments, drawing violent pictures or posting threats on social media.
CPD Public Information Officer Cpl. John Miller said it's important to have officers in schools, as it lets the public know that Clarksville is going to do everything possible to prevent something bad from going on in schools.
He said as a parent himself, he would want to know what is being done to keep his child is safe at school.
"Another big thing is we do stay very involved and up to date on training," he said. "We try to do anything we can that's available to us to stay up-to-date and educate us with anything new training wise to help us protect our schools."
