Safety is one of the most important factors for every individual, no matter what district or school they receive an education from. Thanks to the recent additions and improvements to the LCMCISD campuses, the campus is closer to assured safety while they receive that education.
According to Chief of Police Michael Hennigan, their goal is to have one officer on patrol per campus, although the process will take time. They have also developed and initiated a police department for LCMCISD and have even added the Guardian program to all campuses.
“We added security fencing, and exterior door and window protection on all campuses,” Hennigan said. “We will be adding additional cameras and upgrading the existing cameras we have.”
Moving forward with the police department, they intend to follow their mission, and the school police department will have the same authority as any regular state department, preparing with as much equipment as needed. According to Hennigan, the mission of the Little Cypress-Mauriceville CISD Police Department is to provide the administration, students and staff of the district with the highest level of professional police services possible. Because having a safe learning environment is conducive with the goals and objectives of the district, it is the responsibility of the Little Cypress-Mauriceville CISD Police Department to provide all lawful means of safety and security to the district while respecting the rights of all individuals.
“In achieving this mission, the men and women of the Little Cypress-Mauriceville CISD Police Department will conduct themselves in an ethical manner by respecting and protecting the rights of citizens as determined by the Constitution of the United States and State of Texas and being examples of honesty and integrity in their professional and personal lives, thereby earning the public trust,” Hennigan said.
Each step being taken for the protection of the students is important and with school-based law enforcement, it will help the officers enforce the laws, as defined in the mission statement. However, it does not allow officers to become involved with school discipline unless a situation calls for it. With this in place, each officer must be trained for each situation.
“All officers are TCOLE, Texas Commission on Law Enforcement certified peace officers with the State of Texas,” Hennigan said. “All officers must also attend a 40-hour course on SBLE, School Based Law Enforcement and must qualify with firearms at least once in a 365-day period.”
Altogether, this helps ensure safety so if a threat were to occur officers can follow standard protocol and protect the students and teachers of each facility, whether that is through district policies or policies by the Texas School Safety Center.
“We will continue to move in a forward direction to ensure all our students, faculty and public have a safe environment every day,” Hennigan said.
