Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Shelby Township’s U.S. Rep. Candice Miller has signed on as a co-sponsor of legislation that would reinstate the federal COPS in Schools grant program to the tune of $30 million a year.
A group of Republican legislators, including Shelby Township’s U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, is breathing new life into a Clinton-era grant program designed to support community policing in an effort to combat school violence. The COPS in Schools grant program premiered under President Bill Clinton in April 1999, and awarded more than $753 million during its six-year existence to help local law enforcement agencies hire 6,500 school resource officers to “engage in community policing in and around primary and secondary schools,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice. On Feb. 15, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) introduced H.R. 751, also called The Protect America’s Schools Act, in Congress. The legislation would revitalize the COPS grant program…
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Utica Community Schools will add cameras, intercoms and electronic locks to its elementary and junior high main entrances this year.
With $350,000 already earmarked for camera equipment, plans to upgrade the security of main entrances in the Utica school district are now underway. Taking into account the results of recent security assessments, Utica Community Schools plans to purchase and install several pieces of new equipment that will allow the main entrances of all elementary and junior high schools to remain locked during the school day. More: Increased Security at Utica Schools May be New Normal The Utica board of education Jan. 14 approved $350,000 to purchase security camera equipment that, combined with an audio component and latch-release function, will allow main office personnel to control the entry of visitors to the school. The cameras will provide a …
Monday, January 14, 2013
Shelby Township Township police Chief Roland Woelkers is encouraging his officers to familiarize themselves with the schools, businesses and people in their patrol areas by making one-on-one contact.
Shelby Township schools and neighborhoods can expect to see a greater police presence in the months ahead as the department works to increase its visibility and involvement in the community. Township police Chief Roland Woelkers said he plans to encourage “community policing,” a policy that would increase the personal contact officers have with the community, according to Shelby This Week. “Two of the most vulnerable people in a community are children and senior citizens,” Woelkers told Shelby This Week. Bearing that in mind, Woelkers said the department will emphasize its officers' relationships with these two groups. One of the ways he plans to implement this "community policing" is to assign officers to a specific patrol area – one they…
Friday, January 4, 2013
Heightened security measures implemented by Utica Community Schools following the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting are expected to remain in place through early 2013.
Three weeks, including a holiday break, have passed in Utica Community Schools since the school shooting in Newtown, CT, but security remains at an all-time high throughout the district. Utica, like countless districts across the state and country, heightened its security in the days following the shooting. Those measures are due to remain in place until further notice, wrote UCS Superintendent Dr. Christine M. Johns in a Dec. 21 letter to parents. Indeed, as students and staff returned to school this week following the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, security remained visibly heightened. “Eisenhower security is still enforced to a great amount,” wrote Ike student Lorenzo Santavicca on Shelby-Utica’s Facebook page. “From being greeted …
Monday, December 17, 2012
Utica Community Schools to lock front doors to all elementary and junior high schools this week.
In light of the horrific mass shooting Friday at a Connecticut elementary school, Utica Community Schools has boosted its security this week. Superintendant Christine Johns sent a letter home to parents over the weekend informing them that the district has meet with the local police and in-house security specilaists to put the following additional security measures in place. "UCS staff will maintain a sense of routine for the children. A sense of routine and stability is extremely important to help children feel safe. For the most part, the regular school day and school activities will continue as planned," said Johns. Several years ago, Utica Community Schools implemented nationally recommended security measures, which inclue a security …
a worker
7:45 am on Wednesday, April 3, 2013
What a great idea...Then maybe, just maybe, the so called "leadership" at UCS can finally figure out what happened to the three (3) sets of sub custodian keys that were "misplaced" at Utica High School. How does that make you feel? Knowing that 3 sets of keys are/were missing. Did they ever find them? Do they know who took them? Did they ever take any step to insure the student's safety? Speaking… more ›