TULSA, Okla. — As newsrooms learn more about the school shooting in Nashville Monday, Oklahoma Highway Patrol said it’s on hand to assist schools and law enforcement to prepare and prevent a similar tragedy, especially right after one happens.
“This is very vital that we’re all trained in the exact same system so that when we do arrive, ad-hoc so to speak, altogether - that we operate very seamlessly,” Trooper Eric Foster told 2 News.
Foster speaks of Mission: Secure Oklahoma schools, which he said got every state trooper trained in active shooter scenarios by the end of 2022.
It also assists with public and private schools that request their training.
“We’re training teachers, entire school districts now," he said. "We’re teaching churches and clergy and different places how to respond to these to give us time as we’re responding and how they can be proactive and not be a victim.”
2 News reached out to more than a half-dozen private schools in northeast Oklahoma about their security and safety in light of Monday's shooting.
Only Bishop Kelley in Tulsa agreed to comment, offering a lengthy statement of their protocols and resources for students and staff.
Teachers, counselors and our spiritual leaders are our first line of defense against the possibility of violent behavior at Bishop Kelley. Touching the hearts of students is one of the main tenets of Lasallian education. Our teachers do their best to personally engage each student and know that they are obliged to reach out to a counselor or administrator with any type of concern regarding self-harm or harm to others. Students who feel like they belong, coupled with attentive teachers, counselors and spiritual leaders who know BK students and their families help create and maintain a positive environment.
We are proud of our referral process and open door policy. Students regularly bring a wide range of concerns to us and we respond quickly and appropriately to individual situations. Our students do a great job of watching out for each other, letting us know if someone is eating lunch alone, struggling with peers or making friends. We team closely with St. Francis Behavioral Health, have ready access to Community Outreach Psychiatric Emergency Services (COPES), the Mental Health Association of Oklahoma and Palmer Continuum of Care, Inc in the event situations appear to be evolving to a point that they cannot be handled in-house. MHAO has also provided us training in Crisis Response Team management so we can quickly mobilize a core group to assist an at-risk student or potentially dangerous situation. Lastly, we work in conjunction with the Oklahoma School Security Institute and a safety audit is conducted every 2-3 years.
Each year our faculty and staff review all emergency procedures including responses to fire, tornado, dangerous situations in the area and active shooter. We review situational awareness and the importance of having an individual plan for various scenarios. The school completes a minimum of 10 emergency drills a year with a minimum of four of those drills including lock down type scenarios. Bishop Kelley utilizes a nationally recognized-response system.
BK school administrators complete up to 30 hours of school safety training each year. Important components of that training are shared with faculty and staff. We invite area first responders to campus to review our EOP, tour the campus, and provide recommendations. Tulsa Police Department has a presence at sporting events, dances and other events. TPD's emergency response time to Bishop Kelley is typically less than three minutes.
An armed security guard/resource officer is on campus full-time along with perimeter fencing, updated doors and locks, electronic access, surveillance cameras, canine detection and other additions that have enhanced our safety plan over the years. We recently opened our new Dining Hall as part of the We Are BK Capital Campaign, which focuses on student safety at the core. Also included in the capital campaign is a new, secure gym entrance to further separate visitors from our students, faculty and staff. Beyond this, we require a monthly Virtus Online training for faculty and staff and all visitors on campus are required to check in to our Lobby Guard background check system.
2 News also spoke with parents and grandparents about the tragic news Monday.
“I would have thought security would have gotten a lot tighter with the schools,” Pamela Howell said upon learning the limited details.
Howell said she’s worried for her grandchildren in Okmulgee Public Schools.
A Tulsa mom, meanwhile, said she is angry for her daughter for one simple reason.
“Gun deaths are the leading cause of deaths for children in this country so that’s a profound concern to me," the mother who wished to stay unnamed said.
“The kind of terror that they’re put through when going through active shooter drills is a matter of concern to me. The fact that they’ll read about these events and I’ll have to have discussions with (my daughter) about why we allow this to happen in the United States is of concern to me.”
Tpr. Foster also said he expects a debriefing in the next few days to go over Monday’s shooting and what the police response was, and how OHP can learn from what happened in Nashville.
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