Threat at FPHS on first day illustrates the constant risks
By DONNA THORNTON, Editor
In the weeks before students and faculty headed back to class, local police and fire departments put in training time to sharpen their responses should they be called to schools for an emergency event.
Boaz police conducted active shooter training at Boaz Middle School last week, and Albertville first responders put in four-days of training in July.
And in the first days of school at nearby Fort Payne City Schools, officers were put to the test of their training when threats were reported but proved to be false.
But when a call came into dispatch reporting a possible threat involving a student, officers had to respond as if the threat was real. Schools were locked down for a time, and multiple agencies stepped in as authorities investigated to determine all was safe at the schools.
At Fyffe High School on Aug. 12, a teacher received a report regarding a rumor that a student intended to harm others at school. Security procedures were followed and the threat was investigated. The claims were determined to be false.
There was a similar occurrence at Ider High School. Alleged threatening statements were investigated by the Threat Assessment Team, and no immediate or actionable threat was found, according to a statement from the school.
While all school officials and law enforcement personnel hope there’s never a substantiated need to put such training into use, all consider it essential that they prepare for an emergency.
Albertville City Schools Director of School Services Jordan Phillips, who heads up safety and security for the district, said the Albertville Police Department approached about the possibility of doing active shooter response training at the school — something that had not been done in a few years.
“I was very receptive, because today’s schools are a lot different than they were 20, 30, 40 years ago,” Phillips said. “We just want our guys to be prepared. We want our teachers to be prepared. It’s something we do at school — that’s required by state law, that we perform these drills. As far as the police being a part of it, that’s something that is just an initiative between the school system and the Police Department.
“We want to be sure our officers know these buildings and know how to act in case of an emergency,” he said.
Faculty and students were not involved in the training sessions, conducted July 21, 23, 28 and 30. “This is just more for the police officers, so they can get a feel for their tactical requirements and what they need to do in response with EMTs, fire medics — all those first responder groups are participating.”
Albertville police Chief J.T. Cartee said they worked to make the drills as realistic as possible. “It got pretty intense. You really get into this when you’re walking down those halls, doing what you’re doing.
“It’s training. If something happens, it’s going to be chaotic,” the chief said. “But the more you train, the less chaotic it’s going to be.”
Cartee said the police department works closely with the school system on security issues.
“We love working with all the schools, partnering with them,” Boaz police Chief Mike Turner said. The additional training, and the opportunity to make first responders more familiar with the schools benefits everyone involved.
“All it does is makes us better and more effective in accomplishing our one goal — safer schools,” Turner said.
Cartee said training with officers and other first responders is important, as is information from students, faculty or the public about potential threats.
“Sometimes threats are not so overt. They’re covert,” Cartee said, “but we take them seriously. If you see something say something. Don’t ignore it.”
Fort Payne High School was locked down on Aug. 10 after police received a call from what was thought to be a student threatening to harm himself and potentially others. All city schools were searched and the call was eventually believed to be a hoax. Multiple public safety agencies responded. Photo by DONNA THORNTON
