Ridley: Three police departments keep kids in schools secure
RIDLEY TOWNSHIP » W hen it comes to responding to any kind of incident in Ridley School District schools, three are better than one.
The school board received assurances that all three local police departments in the district are ready to respond.
“Ridley Township, Ridley Park and Eddystone police departments are ‘almost one.’ If anything were to happen at any of the schools, we would all be there,” Ridley Police Captain Scott Willoughby assured the audience at the March Ridley School Board meeting.
Willoughby spoke on behalf of Ridley Park Police Chief Robert Frazier and Eddystone Police Chief Ed Mokshefsky, both of whom were at the meeting held at the request of school officials. Willoughby noted safety procedures were put into effect in the Ridley schools ever since the 1999 shootings at the Columbine High School in Colorado.
“We have been constantly revising our plan if anything were to happen,” the police captain said, adding that five members of the township police department are members of the Delaware County SWAT team.
“Our response time is less than one minute. All three police departments act as one in the event of an emergency. We are prepared. Trust me, we are prepared. I would rather be 99 percent proactive than 1 percent reactive.”
Willoughby said there is zero tolerance for any threats whatsoever in the schools. He said nothing will go unnoticed. He urged parents to take note of their children’s social media postings and to look for any troubling signs carefully. As for students, if they see something that concerns them, he advised them go to a trusted teacher or counselor. Police tips can be given anonymously. There is a game plan in place for responding to threats in the schools, but Willoughby said details will not be made public.
“I just want parents to know we are well aware of our schools. We have maps (of buildings) and we train in the schools and we have a strong relationship with school officials,” he said.
In a statement at the meeting, Schools Superintendent Lee Ann Wentzel said the district has a common interest in maintaining the security of the schools and the safety of the children in the community.
“In 1999, the district immediately focused on changes in drills, building security features, and training for select personnel. Every year since the Columbine incident in 1999, the district has remained committed to this focus on security. Most of the detail work that is done every year goes unnoticed,” Wentzel said.
The superintendent acknowledged that the announcements about school security events, awarding of safe schools grants, installation of panic alarms, or other public information is quickly forgotten with breaking news of another school shooting.
Wentzel said the March 14 first month anniversary of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting will be a “closed campus” at Ridley High School when students will participate in a memorial moment for those who lost their lives.