Jackson County WV ‘Shield Program’ to place deputies in school hallways
JACKSON COUNTY, W.Va. June 25 2022 A new school safety program will place part-time deputies in school hallways and on school grounds, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
The new program, which will begin August of 2022, is called ‘The Shield Program’.
The sheriff’s office says deputies will be placed in every school in the county.
The program has been made possible through a mutual aid agreement between Sheriff Mellinger, the Jackson County Board of Education, and the Jackson County Commission.
The sheriff’s office called the program a ‘substantially proactive effort in shielding our children and teachers from gun-related school violence.’
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office released the following statement about the new program:
“Following our own local school-gun incident in April, the level of importance for proactive policing within our school system has never been greater. This is not a perfect program, but rather one that is a certain progressive step in the right direction in continuing to keep our school children safe and furthermore promote a gun-free school system.
This is a program that every single deputy and law enforcement administrator at the JCSD will be participating in and will not only provide thousands of hours of law enforcement presence at every school but will also build strong and valuable relationships with staff and students alike. This program will also provide excellent knowledge and understanding of all schools and their layouts to each and every potentially responding deputy, should an incident ever arise in the future. Evil knows no boundaries. We shall be prepared accordingly.”
WSAZ
