CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV News) — The West Virginia Department of Homeland Security recently released its new school safety initiative.
Announcing the report’s release during one of Gov. Jim Justice’s COVID-19 press briefings, Rob Cunningham, deputy cabinet secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, emphasized that the effort’s primary focus will be on the prevention of violence at schools.
Justice tasked Cunningham with reviewing school safety policies and developing the new plan in June in the wake of a number of mass shootings, most notably the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, the month before.
“Our school safety program relies heavily on preventing violent incidents,” Cunningham said. “We rely heavily upon the (West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources) in addressing the mental health issues to recognize when we have a problem so we can intercede.”
To that end, DHS is working to form a new School Safety and Security Division within its Division of Protective Services. The goal is to increase accountability regarding school safety and to make reporting and investigating school threats more effective, according to the initiative.
The division consists of a director and a safety team of School Safety and Security Officers located within each region of the state. This system “provides all West Virginia schools with a centralized command, specifically tasked with the organization, implementation, and management of school safety policies, procedures, and protocols,” according to the report.
“What we run into is we have people in each county who do school safety, but they wear many hats,” Cunningham said. “So now we’re going to have people that are focused 100% on school safety.”
Cunningham said the new system will complement existing Prevention Resource Officer and School Resource Officer programs and that a $2 million grant will help to fund the program.
“By the end of this year, beginning of next year, we should have our officers in place,” he said.
The director and regional school safety officers will facilitate security and safety inspections during the school year, with each school undergoing an inspection at least once a year, according to the report.
Those officials will then be able to work with school personnel to address any deficiencies and develop and implement safety strategies.
DHS also has worked to create a central reporting system available throughout the state.
The agency partnered with My Mobile Witness to implement a “see something, send something” reporting system.
A mobile app is available for smartphones, and the application is “also compatible with web-based reporting,” according to the report.
Users can report “Crime/Suspicious Activity” or “School Threat or Safety Issues,” as well as request help for “Suicide or Addiction.” Both text and photos and videos may be included in a tip.
While the app has users enter their names, tips are able to be submitted anonymously, if desired.
All My Mobile Witness tips will be monitored by the West Virginia Emergency Management Division’s Watch Center on a 24/7 basis, which will forward reports to the appropriate law enforcement office, the proper school officials and the necessary state leadership, according to the report.
“(If) you see something, you can take a picture, you can take a video and you make a couple keystrokes, and you will get that information to the place it needs to be,” Cunningham said.
The report also outlines a number of best practices and suggested steps for schools and members of the community. It also includes guidance on handling an active crisis, as well as a post-crisis situation.
“What this school safety initiative does is it provides one uniform approach to get all first responders, all citizens, all…