Union City, Tenn.–Union City School System School Resource Officer (SRO) Raphe Whaley gave a detailed in-service presentation for district staff on the history of school violence in the United States at the High school commons area.
Officer Whaley, who was recently certified in ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) and will institute that program in UC Schools in the 2019-20 school year, talked at length about the numerous school shootings over the last two decades.
He provided considerable data of those events, presented thoughts of experts via video and spoke of the new procedures that have been put in place to counter antiquated ones.
“School is still the safest place children can be,” Whaley said. “Much of the incorrect perception that it’s not is media driven.
“We have procedures and policies in place now that have heightened the awareness of everyone involved and made our school as safe as possible. We’ve moved away from the traditional lockdown approach, but we’re essentially always in soft-lockdown approach. Virtually all schools are essentially on some type of lockdown nowadays.”
Whaley said additional precautions will continue to be made in the UC School System moving forward and faculty and staff will undergo extensive training with ALICE, beginning in the 2019-20 school year.
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