City's Elementary School Policing Plan Calls for 19 New Officers

When Mayor Joe Riley presents the Charleston Police Department's new plan to enhance security at area elementary schools next week he'll be asking City Council to approve nearly $4 million in new taxes to pay for it.

The plan developed by the Police Department in consultation with the Charleston County School District and area private schools centers on adding 19 officers to the department's ranks. At least three officers will be assigned to each of eight areas that are centered around clusters of elementary schools — both public and private — that fall inside the city limits. Each of the clusters spans approximately 1 mile which, Chief Greg Mullen said would lead to significant reductions in response times if anything were to happen at one of those elementary schools.

"I think it is critical for it to be passed," Mullen said. "If not we won't be able to bring in this additional level of security."

By assigning a group of officers to specific clusters that include a group of schools rather than placing an officer at each school the department will have more flexibility to respond to crises without having to pull officers out of particular schools to help with a situation at another school, Mullen said.

The officers included in the cluster plan would spend their time patrolling their clusters and working with school officials on emergency plans and ways to increase the security of each school. It is based on the concept of "layers of security" or "defense in depth," concepts used in military planning and environmental design, and most schools are already using some of the concepts such as secured entries, he said.

Across the city, the Department identified eight clusters: two downtown, one on James Island, one on John's Island and three in West Ashley — two of which overlap. There are approximately 35 elementary schools within the identified clusters.

Each of the officers will receive training specific to school security issues, and will be focusing their efforts on working with the school officials in their cluster on ways to enhance existing security arrangements.

Hardening the security arrangements at individual schools will help to delay any potential gunman from gaining access to the students and staff inside and allow more time for officers to respond to the situation, Mullen said.

Additionally, keeping the officers on the roads rather than in the individual schools also adds an element of unpredictability for anyone planning a mass shooting at a local school, because he or she wouldn't know exactly where those officers were within that cluster at any given time. And having multiple officers able to respond quickly will allow the officers to meet any challenge with equal or greater force.

An added benefit of moving forward with the cluster plan is that in many cases the elementary school clusters include middle and high schools, which will allow the cluster officers to assist with issues at those schools, which already have a school resource officer assigned to the campus.

The Charleston County School District has welcomed the idea of adding police officers to area schools as long as the municipalities providing them handle all the salary, equipment and benefit costs, so it will be up to the city to cover all costs associated with the additional officers, Mullen said.

A second part of the plan calls for another eight new police officers for the peninsula to cover the "entertainment districts" around the Market and along upper King Street. Mullen pointed out that 87 businesses between George and Charlotte streets are licensed to serve alcohol, and another 35 are licensed to serve alcohol in the Market area. Keeping those areas safe and vibrant as patrons leave the bars is a challenge that those eight additional officers will help the department meet.

"It puts a strain or our resources," Mullen said. "We can't allow those areas to get out of control."

Combined the two parts of the department's request would add 27 officers to the Charleston Police Department. That is in addition to the four new officers already authorized in the 2013 budget. City Council will hear details of the proposal during its next meeting Tuesday, Feb. 12.