Aransas Pass Police Department Placing Police Radios Inside Every Area School

Aransas Pass Police Department Placing Police Radios Inside Every Area School

The Aransas Pass Police Department is helping increase security at area campuses by placing a two-way police radio inside of every school.

  • By Jessica Davis
  • May 20, 2019

The Aransas Pass Police Department is helping protect area campuses by placing a two-way police radio inside of every school.

“I thought that is an incredible creative idea to do,” Aransas Pass Police Chief Eric Blanchard said. “Put a police radio on every campus, get the school staff used to using that police radio wherever they need to call for an officer for regular activities, and then in a chance of a crisis or a serious situation, you have ears and eye on scene immediately.”

Blanchard believes that police presence is important in the community and in schools. While officers can’t be everywhere all at once, the radios, as well as a smartphone app, can help connect school staff to the police in case of an emergency.

“On top of that, we took it one step further. We have a software radio that we use for some of our administrative staff and stuff like that. I felt, well, why don’t we give every principal, maybe even the vice principal and some other administrators, part of our school security team, and give them access to that software app, but we will also give them access to our emergency police radio over their smart device,” Blanchard said.

The radio and software app will let school staff immediately alert police in case of an emergency. The direct line will help reduce response time so officers arrive on the scene more quickly.

“If we can put the school officials in direct contact with the officers responding to their location, take out the middle man, it is a win-win for all parties involved,” Blanchard said.

With campus security in the media and on everyone’s minds lately, the Aransas Pass Police Department aims to actively take part in the safety and security of schools.

“There is no such thing as over-preparation, because in the time of an event, you are going to think you didn’t plan enough no matter how much planning you put into your situation,” Blanchard said. “This is just another attempt at working with our schools and our community to keep our kids, school staff, and our community safe.”

About the Author

Jessica Davis is the Associate Content Editor for 1105 Media.

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