More School Safety Officers On The Way To Chatham

CHATHAM, NJ — Each school building in The Chathams will have specially-trained officers once the school year begins, the superintendent said.

Dr. Michael LaSusa said the district has been working with borough and township police departments to get Special Class Resource Officers for each school.

"When schools open on the 25th, we will have three officers in district schools and we anticipate that number to expand in September," the superintendent said in an Aug. 18 newsletter. "Securing officers depends entirely on the pool of potential candidates available to our local police chiefs, and then the approval process through the municipal governing bodies."

"These officers receive special training and are hired specifically to protect schools," LaSusa continued. "They are not involved in student discipline or other student matters, but rather are present to build relationships and respond to any critical incident. We are grateful for their service and recognize them as valuable members of our school communities."

LaSusa also said the county has an anonymous tip line called RSVP-3 for anyone to report potential threats to Morris County schools.

"A key ingredient in the prevention of school violence is the prompt report of suspicious or concerning activity," he said.

District schools have a new alert system called 911 Inform, which LaSusa said has security features including panic buttons at each school and a geofence and geo-mapping to alert police and school personnel if someone dials 911 on school property,