School zones will be strictly enforced as schools open
Parents asked to stay vigilant while dropping off children
Law enforcement officials in the area are getting ready for students to return to school.
Chief Deon Lee of the Forrest City Police Department and Chief Jeff Nichols of the Palestine Police Department agreed that parents and people traveling through school zones need to be as attentive as possible.
According to Lee, Forrest City Police Officers will be strictly enforcing school zone laws and issuing tickets to violators.
"We hate giving tickets to parents in the mornings but it is a safety issue," said Lee. "There are small children jumping in and out of cars. Those that see their parent at the end of the day are excited and they don't pay attention to their surroundings. Again, we hate giving parents tickets, but it is the only way we can increase awareness and attention in those areas."
Nichols stated that the Palestine Police department will also be enforcing school zone laws. Nichols also offered tips for parents regarding the first few weeks of school.
"Parents need to remain vigilant when dropping their kids off at school," said Nichols. "There will be an officer at each school to direct traffic in the mornings and afternoons. We will also be looking for people on their cell phones during this time. For the first week or so, I would advise leaving for school a little early until everyone can get the bugs worked out. Don't be in a rush. I am not sure if the signs are up yet or not, but there is a school zone outside of town in front of the new high school."
According to Lee, the department is looking forward to the kids being back in school.
"We are definitely looking forward to the kids being back in school this year," said Lee. "I think a lot of our incidents and issues that we had last year were because of the kids being out doing virtual. I think a lot of that will go away with them back in school."
Lee stated that due to the department being short staffed, no school resource officer has been assigned to the schools within the district.
"As far as a school resource
(Continued from Page 1) officer, we are not staffing anyone at the schools at this time," said Lee. "We are going to have officers going by the schools periodically and there will be officers out in the mornings. We are going to reach out to the principals of each school and give them a schedule of which supervisors and who they can call if they have an issue. We are pretty short on staff right now and we just do not have the bodies to put officers there all day. I plan to talk to Dr. Hardrick and see if she is planning on hiring off duty officers to work security like she has in the past. That might be an option we can work on."
According to Nichols, no officer has been assigned as a school resource officer has been assigned for the Palestine School District, but an officer will be making several walkthroughs daily.
"We will not have an officer in the schools all day, but there will be one walking through the schools several times a day," said Nichols. "People also need to pay attention to stopped school buses when they see them. Do not pass these buses."
Lee stated that parents need to pay attention to buses as well, saying that not only did the department make arrests last year for people passing stopped buses, but also bus drivers doing the same.
"I would tell the parents that since they have children, they should understand the necessity of attentiveness and awareness around schools," said Lee. "Some children walk to school. Also, do not pass school buses. We made several arrests last year of people passing school buses. We even stopped some bus drivers that were speeding and passing other buses. They have kids on the bus so they need to be as safe if not more safe than the other drivers."