Clark County School District K9 Officer James Harris and his partner Ziggy, a one-year-old, gun-sniffing Labrador Retriever, search for a gun during a training session at Desert Pines High School Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019.
Monday, Aug. 7, 2023 | 2 a.m.
Violence at CCSD schools
There will be a continued police presence on campuses across the Clark County School District this school year to help limit violent acts, officials said.
Law enforcement officers will again partner with the Clark County School District Police Department to be on school grounds, where they will interact with administrators, teachers and children to develop relationships and facilitate a safe school setting, Metro Police Deputy Chief Reggie Rader said. It’s the same strategy for police departments in Henderson, North Las Vegas and Las Vegas marshals.
“Please don’t be alarmed by the increased police presence that you may see,” Rader said. “... This is just to ensure everybody that there is going to be a safe and positive environment for the school year.”
CCSD begins a new school year today with additional initiatives from School Police at the area’s 360 public schools, Chief Henry Blackeye said.
To reduce guns brought to campus, Blackeye said the department plans to triple the amount of K-9 sweeps it performs. It found 31 firearms during “sniffs” last school year and 33 firearms two years ago, he said.
The department has four gun-sniffing dogs, plus two drug-sniffing dogs. And they will be getting more work.
“Instead of the four K-9s doing one sniff at four different high schools, they’re going to double that number. So they’re going to be hitting up to eight,” CCSD Police spokesman Lt. Bryan Zink said.
Zink said there are plans to increase enforcement at middle schools this school year.
The department is bringing in about a dozen new officers who will be stationed at campuses full time, and middle school administrators will do more weapons checks with handheld metal detectors.
The weapons sweeps have been around for about five years and are handled similarly to the planned, random drug and weapons checks officers do at high schools with trained sniffing dogs, Zink said. They will become more frequent in grades 6-8, with students being inspected with a wandlike metal detector passed over them.
Weapons discovered at schools have been a persistent problem. Four guns were confiscated last year at middle schools, according to CCSD data.
Zink said he didn’t know which of CCSD’s roughly 60 middle schools would be getting assigned officers, but “more than likely it’s going to be the schools that had higher calls for service, because that’s where they’re needed.” All 40 of CCSD’s comprehensive high schools have a full-time campus officer.
Zink said it will be all hands on deck during the initial weeks of the school year, with every member of the 180-officer force in the field unless they’re injured or on light duty. This includes detectives and others who usually have administrative or training duties.
Additionally, the number of department social workers will be doubled to six, Blackeye said. The social workers help the department address children and family issues that don’t fall under law enforcement.
Blackeye and Rader encouraged the public to help keep the schools safe by reporting anything that seemed suspicious or concerning.
“We look at incidents that have happened around the nation and many times after a tragedy, you can backtrack and find that there were small indicators or things that were minimized that if just followed up on could have prevented some casualties,” Rader said. “We ask that any threat, any tip not go unreported.”
Tips can be made by calling the 24-hour hotline See Something Say Something at 702-828-7777. Tips can also be given anonymously at SafeVoice via their website safevoicenv.org or by calling 1-833-216-SAFE.
“There perhaps has never been a more difficult time in raising our young ones with the challenges and the temptations and the reach that social media has,” Rader said. “We know that you have a difficult task. Please be vigilant, please stay involved in your children’s lives.”
Blackeye asked that parents check their children’s backpacks daily before school to make sure there’s nothing inside that could lead to trouble.
He also suggests parents monitor their children’s social media.
“It can help if they’re being bullied,” he said. “If they’re receiving threats or if there’s some type of activity that you don’t approve of.”
Police will also be doing traffic enforcement near school zones, stationing extra patrols near schools to inform drivers that a new academic year is starting, Rader said. The school zone speed limit is 15 mph, and officials urge motorists to check signs for times when the limit is enforced.
“So be cognizant of those school zones that weren’t in effect during the summertime, they will now be in effect,” Rader said. “So as you’re driving through there, be aware of your routes and know that the speed limits will be strictly enforced with our traffic enforcement.”
About 305,000 students and 40,000 staff members will be returning to schools throughout the valley, Blackeye said. About 1,500 school buses and parents will be making their way to schools for morning drop-offs and afternoon pickups, he said.
“That’s going to take a toll on the traffic out there every morning,” Blackeye said. “So we ask everyone to take a few minutes. Leave early. Plan your route out.”
