Police Plan For ‘Critical Incidents’ In The Schools

By Andrew Gorosko

In cooperation with public school officials, town police have been revising contingency plans intended to provide a framework for dealing with school emergencies that would require police intervention, known as “critical incidents.”

Such emergencies include the presence of a person with a gun or other weapon; a person making threats; a bomb threat; and the presence of a suspicious package, among other situations. In such cases, police would be dispatched to the affected school to deal with the problem.

Police Commission members discussed the planning project Tuesday night during a commission meeting.

Acting Police Chief Michael Kehoe, who is a former school resource officer and a former school youth officer, told commission members that a coordinated effort between police and school officials is very important in handling emergencies as they arise in the schools.

Acting Captain Joe Rios, who is also a former school resource officer, told commission members that the planning work between police and school officials will provide a means for “critical incident assessment” in gauging the nature of emergencies in the schools and how to best deal with them.

Police and school officials have discussed sets of rules that school officials would use in determining when it is appropriate to call police to intervene in a situation, Acting Captain Rios said. It is important for police and school officials to make contingency plans for various problems, in light of school-related emergencies that have occurred in the country, he said.

Police have had such contingency plans in place for a long time, Police Commission Chairman James Reilly said Wednesday. Renewed discussion of the topic came at the request of commission member Charles Pilchard, Mr Reilly said.

The police department and public school system have a cooperative relationship in dealing such emergencies, Mr Reilly said. The police chief, captain, sergeants, and the police officers who work in the schools have pooled their efforts in helping to develop such plans, he said.

“I think common sense prevails, but you do need some procedures” for handling emergencies, Acting Captain Rios said Wednesday.

Deciding when police should be called to a school to handle a particular problem involves balanced judgment, Acting Captain Rios said.

“It’s a learning environment. There’s a need for an academic, orderly environment,” he said. A police presence in a situation can be disruptive to the learning environment, so good judgment is needed in determining when police should be called to the scene, he said.

The schools are capable of handling many incidents, but in some cases, police need to be called in, he said.

Police and school officials have had several meetings in setting criteria for police responses to school incidents, he said.