LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — After a May 2023 news conference where Clark County school and police leaders discussed a number of security changes for the 2023-24 school year, I checked back in to see where they were in implementing what they promised.
That news conference took place with eight days remaining in the 2022-23 school year, right after a campus security guard was shot by a stray bullet, in addition to a number of threats.
“We will be testing, piloting some metal detectors at some of our schools, so that's going to be new,” said Clark County School District Police Chief Mike Blackeye on May 10, 2023.
With one semester down in the 2023-24 school year, that hasn’t happened.
“There's still no plan at this time for walk-through metal detectors,” said CCSD Police spokesman Lt. Bryan Zink. “It always comes back to the logistics of having those metal detectors on campus.”
During that same news conference, Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara noted what other safety measures they were looking into.
“There are some districts across this country that are looking at clear backpacks,” he said at the time.
Shortly after that, CCSD leaders decided not to go in that direction, either.
Instead, Lt. Zink says they’ve increased the number of high school random weapons and drug sniffs from four to six.
“They also participate in the random wanding program, which is done through the school district, but they're also there to make sure it's done, conducted safely in a manner that adheres to the law,” Zink said.
He also said the district brought back progressive discipline.
“I think a lot of kids know now that there are going to be harder consequences if they are caught violating some of the school rules,” he said. “We always want to remind everybody that no weapon of any kind is allowed on any CCSD campus unless you’re a law enforcement person.”
According to district data, during the first semester, police recovered 136 weapons on campus.
Nine of them were air or bb guns, 17 were handguns, 64 were knives and 46 were other types of weapons.
Zink says that is slightly down from the first semester of the 2022-23 school year.
“The way that we like to look at it is it's everyone's responsibility within this building to keep everyone else in this building safe,” he said.
The biggest change is still to come.
Zink says mid-January, three officers will begin campus patrols at middle schools for the first time.
“Ultimately our goal is to have at least nine middle school patrol officers," he said.
He said three would go in each region with calls for service used to determine where those officers will focus their attention.
In addition to patrols, Zink says those officers will also teach the Law Enforcement Against Drugs or LEADS program. It’s a 10-week curriculum focused on life skills, promoting anti-bullying and staying away from drugs.
He added that a mobile command post and boosters to help with radio reception in spotty areas are also on the way.
