Smithtown schools hire armed security officers
Smithtown NY Feb 16 2023 Armed guards are set to begin patrolling outside all Smithtown Central School District buildings going forward, the Smithtown Board of Education announced Wednesday.
The safety and security of anyone in or around a school building is a “top priority,” Superintendent Mark Secaur and the rest of the board wrote in a letter to the community.
“While our security enhancements related to staffing, infrastructure, training, and operational protocols have evolved and improved over time, we have come to the stark realization that there is more we can do to better protect the members of this school community,” the board stated. “Unfortunately, as we are reminded all too often by the news reports from across the nation, schools have occasionally been viewed as ‘soft’ targets and the scene of senseless tragedies caused by ‘active shooters.'”
The district, with a “heavy heart,” decided to add armed guards to the exterior perimeter of each school, the board said. The guards are meant to strengthen the district’s ability to respond during a crisis and deter anyone who “may seek to do harm,” the board wrote.
“The rationale for this security enhancement is simple: Having armed guards on school grounds will improve our response time in order to better protect our students, faculty, staff, and community members who are in and around our buildings on a daily basis,” the board said.
The district began identifying security firms that can provide its schools with “highly trained” armed guards. The guards will be required to take multiple training sessions per year and re-qualify through periodic performance-based assessments.
When the district decides on a security firm and the board of education vets it, the guards will be familiarized with the district’s facilities. The guards will coordinate with Suffolk police and be deployed throughout the district.
“While questions may arise, please understand that we will not be at liberty to comment on specific details such as guard deployments, locations, and working hours as it may compromise their safety and effectiveness,” the board said.
The guards will not be posted inside the school buildings.
“This decision has not come lightly, but we believe that this is a necessary step to improve our approach to the safety and security of our students, faculty, staff, and community members,” the board said.
The South Huntington School District announced it would station armed guards outside its schools in late January. Like Smithtown, South Huntington cited school safety in the wake of nationwide gun violence at schools.
South Huntington recently added security vestibules at all buildings, hired a director of security, increased security surveillance cameras and is planning a security booth at Walt Whitman High School.
Three students were killed in a shooting at Michigan State University Monday night.
A Riverhead man was arrested in August 2018 after he shot a handgun near a Riverside elementary school while in the car with a teenager back in May 2018, police said.
Shooting threats have been made against several Long Island schools over the past year.
A 16-year-old boy was arrested in May after he made threats on social media about committing a mass shooting at Bellport High School, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.
A 13-year-old was arrested in October after he threatened on social media to shoot people at Copiague Middle School, Suffolk police said.
A 15-year-old boy in June said “I’m gonna remake the Texas shooting” at Commack Middle School, Suffolk police said. He was also arrested.
A Riverhead High School student, 15, was arrested after he threatened violence at the school for two days in a row last June, Suffolk police said.
Days after the Riverhead High School threat, a student threatened to “conduct an act of violence against the faculty and students” at Riverhead Middle School, police said.
A boy, 15, was arrested in June after he threatened to “shoot up” Greenport High School, Southold Town police said.
Police withheld the names of all minors.
A threat made on social media against Southold Junior-Senior High School in March 2022 was deemed a scam by Southold Town Police.
