Police to deploy tighter security for school openings on Friday

The police, working in coordination with the Education Ministry, have finalized security preparations throughout the country for the 2017-18 school year, which begins on Friday.

Thousands of officers from multiple units, aided by trained volunteers, have been assigned to kindergartens, elementary and high schools in every district to ensure students remain safe at all times, police said on Wednesday.

“As part of the security preparations for the opening of the school year, a variety of activities were carried out during the past month to ensure the safety of the students, including the improvement of security guidelines and procedures,” the police said in a statement. “On the eve of the opening of the new school year, the level of operational activity will be stepped up, and checkpoints will be set up to examine vehicles and people on roads adjacent to the schools, with patrols conducted in the vicinity of all schools.”

In addition to police preparations, the IDF will carry out intensive activities, including patrolling the entrances to educational institutions and deploying a large number of security forces to locate suspicious objects, vehicles and individuals.

Noting that there will be heightened traffic when over one million students, accompanied by their parents, arrive at schools on the first day, police are asking all drivers to exercise extreme caution.

“Parents driving their children should ensure students are dropped off safely and that they drive slowly and carefully, while giving pedestrians right of way at crossing points to schools and kindergartens,” the police said.