MIDLAND, Texas — Schools are place for students to learn, but they also need to be safe when they are learning. That is why the Midland Independent School District holds a meeting every fall, spring and summer with their Safety and Security Committee to go over security protocol and discuss what else they could do to increase security at their schools.
The discussion at Tuesday's meeting was about officers on MISD campus's.
“I think the biggest thing is increased police department officers and staff," MISD Emergency Management Coordinator Tim Allen said. "Chief [Scott] McKown has done a phenomenal job drawing new officers into the MISD Police Department and the quality of officers that he's bringing on, it's just phenomenal.”
The increase in officers has led to a decrease in school crimes. The committee says that since last year, fights have gone down 72%, assaults are down 45% and terroristic threats are down a whopping 82%.
There’s another reason for bringing in more offices. State law requires that schools have at minimum one armed officer on campus.
While they haven't achieved that yet, it's something that MISD is trying to get on top of.
"This was enacted into law last year to have at least one armed security. Then the legislation came from House Bill 3, but it went into specifics, whether it be a school resource officer or a district police department," Allen said. "Our board of trustees has opted for district police officers that are employed by MISD."
So far, MISD is getting closer to what they need thanks to some outside help.
“We're pretty close, but we also have extra duty officers that are reporting to our campuses," Allen said. "Basically a local law enforcement officers that maybe have a day off during the week and they're signing on for an overtime opportunity.”
Twenty-five officers are employed by MISD Police, up from 10 last year. However, the magic number is 41.
“That will give us at least one on every MISD campus with... more officers present on our big campuses," Allen said.
No matter how many officers are on the payroll, each one will work together to keep Midland’s schools safe and sound.
“As a team effort, we work very closely together to try to find smart ways to do things better and continually improve on a daily basis," Allen said. "It might be just a little bit at a time but we continue to push.”