Terry has been in law enforcement for 40 years.  As Chief of Police for the Board of Education, Terry was instrumental in the reorganization of the police system within the public schools.  The SCCPS police force is only 1 of 3 education police forces in the state of Georgia that is State Certified.  They are currently pursuing an international standard accreditation that only one other school district in the nation has received.  

 

Terry and the 75 officers who work for the school police force are responsible for 426 square miles, 36,000 kids, 55 schools.  School safety is a team sport!  They are in charge of keeping students and faculty safe during inclement weather and from any potential violence that might occur on campus.  In order to do this, they have modernized schools by adding layers of security.  Terry says everything starts with a plan and that all the teachers are trained on the plan.  Terry introduced Justin who is the Emergency Management Coordinator.  They talked about the slogan "See Something, Say Something" and how they spend a lot of time on prevention.  Justin informed us of some of the department initiatives such as Operation 15, Junior Police Academy, and the Audio Enhancement system that teachers use in the classroom.  Terry said that our children are the most precious resource that we have and we need to do everything we can to keep them safe.