POLICE NEWS
In August of 2018, the City Oak Ridge Police Department in conjunction with Tier One US in response to a Governors initiative, initiated Operation Safe Schools. With the sole purpose of protecting children in schools, especially those schools that cannot afford their own police department. The concept is simple, place police officers in schools to protect the lives of the children and give them a safe environment to learn. Not only do our officers protect the students but they become mentors and teachers in life’s lessons as well as allow students to interact with a police officer at a very early age. In fulfilling this endeavor, the City of Oak Ridge Police Department hires mostly veteran officers with an extensive history in policing. Many of them are retired but still want to protect and help the communities. Their skills cover the complete range of policing, including patrol, field training, detectives, tactical officers, gang specialists, hostage negotiators, as well as many have many years in police management covering building security, incident command and emergency management communications. All of the officers employed to work are SBLE (School Based Law Enforcement) trained, receive constant training in active shooter, ALERRT (Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training) and are certified first responders/stop the bleed certified and the application and use of NARCAN along with other specialized training.
Since the inception of the idea, the City Oak Ridge Police Officers, have worked in numerous school districts, both public and private in the DFW Metroplex and Harris County areas. When schools look at the cost to start and maintain their own police department, schools need other reliable alternatives to keep their schools safe. Working with the City Oak Ridge Police Department, our officers give schools that needed option.