Security Info Watch, click to go home
Most Popular: Today | OverallMost E-Mailed: Today | Overall

California middle school implements metal detectors

Oakland's Cole Middle School to use new security measures on trial basis
BY KATY MURPHY
Oakland Tribune
Updated: 02-6-2009 1:45 pm

OAKLAND Stepped-up security measures, including metal-detection wands and bag checks, soon will be in place at a local middle school in which a gun recently discharged in a classroom, causing no injuries.

When Cole Middle School students return Monday after the weeklong Thanksgiving holiday, they will undergo baggage inspections before entering the building.

Such security measures are rare in Oakland, with the exception of some of the district's alternative schools, but they will be implemented at Cole on a trial basis. Some students and parents, shaken from the gun scare, suggested at a meeting last week that the West Oakland school take such precautions.

"We listened to the opinions of the Cole Village and have tried to reflect their will and wisdom in our decisions," Principal Ivory Brooks wrote in a letter to families. "As we move forward, we will continue to welcome suggestions from the community with respect to this situation and all opportunities for improvement at our school."

District spokesman Troy Flint said that district administrators are considering whether to implement bag inspections at other schools as well.

"The success or failure of this initiative will probably have an impact on whether we expand this program," he said.

Post a Comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Copy the characters (respecting upper/lower case) from the image.