SAFETY AND SECURITY

Administrators will effectively investigate all threats with a great sense of urgency followed by appropriate actions/consequences being enacted. If information about a threat (social media or otherwise) is given to an administrator by a student, faculty member, staff, or community member and you deem such threat to be non-emergency in nature, please relay all information to the Chief Safety Officer, Jeff Russo.  This can be done by contacting the Incident Command Center (ICC) from any district phone.  If you deem the information to be an emergency in nature, call 911 for an immediate law enforcement response.

Acts of violence in the community or at another school can spill over into any building. To assist in solving crimes and ensuring the safety of our students, all “tips” or information received must be communicated to the appropriate persons in a timely fashion. Be sure to report all serious incidents and the details of your investigation as it progresses to the Chief Safety Officer by looping in the ICC.

Community Engagement Officers (CEO’s) will be dispatched and respond to your building when possible, but if you require immediate police assistance or response, dial 911.  The CEO’s should not be counted on as the emergency responder in an emergency situation. Such situations could include but are not limited to: serious physical injury of staff or student, large fights, injuries caused by weapons, possession of weapons on school grounds, threats of suicide, intruders, runaways with special needs, etc. 

In the event of a non-emergency situation, please connect with the Chief Safety Officer on how to proceed.  Again, this can be done by contacting the ICC.  The Chief Safety Officer will advise the CEO’s of the situation and they will advise how to proceed.  The Chief Safety Officer will direct you to call the non-emergency line at 518-630-0911 when directed to do so by the CEO’s.  Additionally, if you need assistance from the CEO’s or other SPD personnel regarding matters to be addressed at a future date (ie. K-9 searches, mediations, weapons searches, etc.) please contact the Chief Safety Officer who will make such arrangements. 

While the Chief Safety Officer will be available to provide information, advice or guidance in matters relating to safety and security, if it is determined that law enforcement assistance is needed, the Chief Safety Officer will determine if the situation can wait on a CEO response or if the police non-emergency number needs to be called. When assisting, the Chief Safety Officer may advise you at any point to make the 911 call or the call to the police non-emergency number listed above.  Often, this will be done so all information for police is coming from a primary source and not a 3rd party. 

If an officer is present in your building and an incident occurs requiring a law enforcement response, they will immediately take action and contact their dispatcher by way of radio to inform them of the nature of the incident and request additional assistance if needed.

All buildings are equipped with one (1) two-way radio that connects directly with the Unified Command Center (County Dispatch).  This radio has red tape on the antennae and should be within reach of an assigned administrator at all times.  This radio connects directly with the police dispatcher and is only to be used in emergency situations where there is an active threat within the building.  This radio will not be used for day to day emergencies where 911 is needed, a phone call is still the proper way to contact police for all other situations. 

For safety and security purposes, all staff and secondary students are issued an identification card (ID) to be worn whenever in a district building.  Staff ID’s also serve as access cards to open appropriate district buildings and areas equipped with swiper capabilities.  It is important that all staff be reminded regularly about being “safety minded”, which includes keeping their ID’s secure.  As with any personal identification card, photos of SCSD Employee ID’s should never be posted on social media or shared in any other way.